Fairy Tail's Vampire Lord
by DAve and Bob
Summary: Well first of all, it's not like I wanted to become a vampire. It was sort of something that kind of happened, second of all it's not like I wanted to join Fairy tail, but it seemed that fate had a pretty sick sense of humor. Perhaps the name Armel is just cursed, cursed to be born without magic then cursed to be a vampire. Not that I'm complaining...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**The Day I became a Vampire Lord.**

"Why am I here?" It was a question I was asking in both the literal sense and figurative sense. The giant manor had been in ruins for at least two decades, yet here I was looking around it for no other reason besides not having anything better to do.

"Is this really the place where the wizard saint fought the vampire lord?" I said, looking over the prestige vases that had been shattered. My eyes wandered upward to see a large painting of a woman with the face scratched out.

I couldn't help but wonder if that was the vampire lord in question. The surrounding areas were so dilapidated that it was impossible to imagine anyone or anything living there.

Sunlight pierced the broken ceiling as I continued to investigate the building. "It's on a cliff side, so I have to find a window," I spoke to myself.

I just had another nasty fight with my dad, though thinking about it. It was less a fight and a more like a one-sided verbal beatdown. So I wasn't planning on coming back home, not like it mattered much.

Out of three siblings, I was the one blessed with the misfortune of having no magical talent whatsoever. Then again, that was part of the reason why I came here because I knew no one would look for me. I could spend weeks there, months, and not a single soul would search.

It was an oddly calming feeling. I opened another window, looking down at the cliff side edge that fell into the sea.

"I suppose whoever the vampire lord was she had pretty good taste in scenery," I said to myself leaning out the window taking in the atmosphere.

I wondered just how many floors there were to the building. Considering it was an entire mansion there had to be three at least. The floor that I was on, the second floor, and a basement.

I decided to leave the main room, slowly ascending the staircase. I ignored the damaged and worn hand railing as I walked through the second-floor hallways.

There was a strange air about the building. Like there was a reason that no one tried to tear down the building even after so many years.

In a way, it didn't matter. I entered a random room of his choosing, only to be greeted with a room filled with stuffed animals.

I was taken aback by the scene. I guess if the vampire lord were a girl she'd still be into cutesy things such as stuffed animals and ribbons. I walked deeper into the room, placing my hand the white and gold bed in the center.

The thing was covered in so much dust and dirt that you could make a second blanket from that alone. Still, I decided to jump on it, which probably looked goofy for an eighteen-year-old man to do, but it was something I never had the chance to experience in my own house.

Then again, I never had a bed in my own house either. While I continued to jump, I paid little mind to the creaking of the floor, that was until the floor collapsed in on itself.

I flinched as me, and the bed fell from the second floor to the first. I wish I could say that was the end of it, but it seemed that the weight of the floor combined with the bed was still too much for the weak floor as I fell further down into what was considered the basement.

My vision went black as the bed beneath me shattered. Wood and debris were sent flying in every direction, forcing me to cough.

I felt a sharp pain in my ankle like it had been twisted, prompting me to try to lift myself. The moment I did the severe pain returned, causing me to grumble.

"Great...I wish the fall would have killed me so I wouldn't have to worry about this shit," I sighed lying on the mattress. I looked around the surrounding area, taking note of how weird it was.

It didn't look like any basement I had ever seen. Instead, it looked closer to a strange ballroom. I grabbed a nearby piece of wood and used it as a makeshift walking stick.

Once again, sunlight shined through the ceiling and down into the room; it made sense. The first floor had plenty of holes along with the second. It made sense that sunlight would even manage to reach the basement.

I made my way across the marble floor, taking note of the shattered pieces of ground and pillars embedded into the wall. Forget rundown. It looked like someone had a battle there years ago.

My eyes wandered about until I noticed someone lying in the center of the room. I slowly inched my way closer towards the figure, finally taking in the details.

It was a woman with long black hair, with a pure white and gold dress. Her limbs were twisted about unnaturally, and a massive stone spike had impaled her to the floor.

Strangely enough, that wasn't the oddest part about the scene, instead what was weird was the size of the lass. She wasn't muscular or anything like that, in fact, she looked rather dainty. She was taller than most men I had met, probably reaching nearly 200cm.

"Is she some doll?" I asked, making my way towards her. I couldn't imagine anyone just stumbling upon this place, then again I just did.

The moment I got within a few feet of her, the woman's eyes snapped open. She didn't even bother moving her head, as her red-eyes tracked my movements.

"Young man, what are you doing here?" She spoke just like a baroness.

"Y-you're alive?" I stuttered, pointing to the strange woman.

"Fortunately yes, but with the way the holes in the ceiling are opening up I won't be for long." The woman's eyes looked towards the ceiling as I noticed strange burn marks running up the side of her leg.

It wasn't regular burns either, but rather like someone had been drilling holes into her skin.

"A sorry state no doubt, I am all out of magical power to protect myself from the sun's rays. Once the sunlight reaches my heart and head, I'll die."

It took me a moment to piece together what was happening before me. Weakness to sunlight, strangely pointed ears... "Y-you're a vampire aren't you."

"Yes, and you are a human, we both can state the obvious," the vampire frowned. For someone who had been impaled, she had a smart mouth.

"So, are you the Vampire Lord that was defeated three decades ago?" It was the logical conclusion to come to as I took a seat in front of her.

The woman raised a brow. "You are rather calm for a human who is staring down a vampire."

I shrugged placing aside my temporary staff. "I figure if you could kill me, you would have by now, plus if I'm going to die I rather it be at the hands of a beautiful woman..."

It was a cheesy line, but it seemed to have gotten a chuckle out of the vampire.

"I suppose if my life is to come to an end, having this be my last conversation is fitting."

I froze looking at the condition of the woman's body, in theory, she should be able to move if I ripped out the giant spike that was impaling her to the floor.

I stood back up, walking over to her body, placing my arm on the giant stone stake.

"Don't bother. I can tell that you're not a mage. You won't be able to lift it," the Vampire's words were like a hammer to the back of my skull. "Besides, even if you could, I'm far too weak to do anything."

I groaned sitting next to her, examining her figure. She was quite pretty, despite how messed up her body was.

"Are...you afraid of dying?" Given the context, it was pretty tasteless of me to ask such a thing.

The woman gazed over to me before looking at the sunlight, slowly streaming in. "At first, I welcomed death, but as it draws closer and closer...I realized I want to live."

Her words shocked me. Mostly because I never expected them to come from a demon of all creatures.

It seemed that the woman took note of my reaction. "Pathetic no, I have lived over 200 years, yet I still don't want to die. There are so many things I want to do and see..."

I stared at her. In a way, she was the exact opposite of me. Which made sense, she was a vampire lord, of course, she would have things to live for.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Very well, it's not like I can refuse in this situation." The woman pointed out, causing me to laugh.

"Do you...think everyone is born equal? That everyone has the chance at happiness if they work hard enough?" I was projecting a bit, but if an ancient vampire lord can open up to a stranger, there was no reason why I couldn't.

"If you expect me to say that all life is precious, I am sorry to disappoint you," the Vampire took a deep breath. "Truth of the matter is, some people are born to fail, some people merely exist to benefit others, and most of the time there is nothing you can do about it."

"Wow, you don't pull any punches, huh?" I frowned.

"If I a vampire lord told you a human that you could be anything, it would just be empty words and condescension."

Her words were...surprisingly liberating. What little doubts and fears I had left vanished from my mind, almost like ash blowing away in the breeze.

"I think I know what I'm going to do," I slowly removed my top shirt, pulling down my collar to expose my neck.

"What...are you doing?" The vampire tilted her head, causing me to laugh.

"You're a vampire. So if you drink blood, you'll regain your strength." That is how I assumed vampires worked.

"I appreciate the gesture young man, but the amount of blood I need would kill you," the black haired woman pointed out.

"I expected that, and I don't care..." The moment I brought that up, I noticed her eyes widen. "I was going to off myself here today anyway, so at least now I can at least help someone else."

The black-haired vampire stared at me with surprisingly warm eyes. "Are...you going to do this?"

"Sure, like I said I was tired of living," I stated. "My only condition is that you build a statue of me somewhere." I laughed, mounting the pinned woman.

"Denied, statues are far too tacky. How about a plaque with your name on it?" She smiled.

"Ah, that's fine. Speaking of names, what's yours?" I figured I should at least know the name of the creature that I'm offering my life for.

"My name is Francisca Von Wimpffen."

"Geez, my name is shit compared to yours..." I said, leaning my neck closer to her mouth.

"You'll have to say it if you want your name on the plaque," Francisca whispered into my ear.

I grumbled a bit. "Armel Mace,"

"I'll commit it to memory then..." With those words, the black haired vampire bit into my neck, reaching my carotid artery. It was painful at first, but the moment she started sucking my blood, I relaxed.

At the very least I won't have to worry about anything anymore...at least that is what I thought.

-12

I slowly opened my eyes, something that I didn't ever expect to happen ever again. I looked around, taking note of the fact that I was back on the first floor of Francisca's manor.

"So you finally awake?" I heard a light voice coming from the area as I looked towards the floor. Sitting across from me was a small black-haired girl with piercing red eyes. She was wearing a rather extravagant dress, one that would have probably taken at least thirty minutes for someone her age.

"Um, say little girl have you seen your mom?" I blurted out, not knowing if what I was saying was a joke or not.

"Mom? How rude, you could at least say something like sister or aunt!" The small girl stood up, shaking her body like a dog. I had a pretty good idea who it was, but a part of me didn't want to believe it.

"I guess you're Francesca," I looked down at the black-haired girl who couldn't possibly be older than ten.

"Yes..." Francesca nodded, forcing me to sigh.

I suppose if things weren't complicated, it wouldn't be my life. Regardless, she was alive, and that was the only thing that mattered.

I looked up towards the ceiling, noticing that lack of sunlight pouring through. I was probably asleep for a decent amount of time.

"Oh, by the way, you're a vampire now..." The small vampire yawned. "You seemed pretty depressed about not being able to use magic, so I fixed that for you."

"...Eh?" I didn't know how to reply. Instead, I ran to one of the many broken mirrors in the main room trying to examine myself, though there was a little problem.

"Oy, Fran, your mirror is broken!" I pointed to the dusty old, causing the vampire to sigh.

"Fran? Even though we've just met, you've already given me a nickname." Fran ran her finger through her hair before lacing up her shoes. "Of course mirrors would be useless, you're a vampire, you can't see your reflection."

I slumped my shoulders. "I-is that for a fact?" I swallowed harshly. "So what about you? What's up with that little girl look?"

Fran twirled her hair sitting on the couch I was once lying on. "Simple, once I sucked your blood, I transferred a majority of my power back to you." Fran stretched.

"So I'm your servant now or something?" I had heard rumors of vampires turning others into their faithful servants.

Fran just laughed. "I think you got it confused, the servant in this relationship is me..."

"But why?" I was confused. The whole point of me giving my life to her was so she could regain her strength. Why go through that only to provide a chunk of it to me.

"Because I lost..."

It was such a short statement, one that I didn't understand. "Do you mean to the Wizard Saint?"

"No not that, I lost to you..." Fran pouted, causing me to grow even more confused.

"I mean...I didn't do anything."

Fran shook her head. "You were willing to die, without hesitation or regret. Even if you were a fraction of my age, your actions were utterly unclouded, even if it was due to your despair, you still made an active decision."

Fran made my choice sound far more impressive than it was.

"Me, on the other hand, despite being a vampire lord could only think of the things I wasn't able to do." Fran stomped her foot, causing the entire floor to rumble. "Thinking about it like that it's natural that I give my power to someone who isn't a coward and can follow through. You said you were going to die, and was willing to die, that alone means you have conviction!"

Once again, I felt like I was getting too many compliments giving the context of the situation. "Are...you okay with being my servant?" The moment I asked Fran let out a rather cute laugh.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I am still planning on building my strength back to what it was. I just decided to help you, that's all."

The comment seemed rather vague, but I wasn't going to question it. Besides, if what Fran was saying was correct... "Does that mean you're going to teach me magic now?"

Fran pouted jumping onto the nearby table. "Going straight for it, huh?" Fran's eyes then moved towards the window taking. Perhaps she was examining the moonlight. "Very well, I am sure I can teach you two basic spells before the sun rises."

For the first time in a while, I was excited about something. Perhaps I was a bit shallow, but there was something I had to do the following morning. "Good, because I need to burn a lot of bridges tomorrow and magic is the only way I can do it!"

Fran waved her hands about. "Fine, fine, the first spell is called Sun shield, despite the name, it's a rather basic spell. It applies a thin layer of magic that protects you from the suns rays for twenty-four hours. It barely takes any magic to maintain, and it only vanishes if you completely run out of magic, which is unlikely due to you being a vampire now."

I just stared at the small black-haired vampire. My eyes narrowing, and my shoulder's slumping.

"W-what?" Fran's eye twitched.

"Nothing, I just didn't expect vampire magic to be so...mundane," I sighed adverting my eyes. "I expected the first spell to be shooting lasers or something."

Fran rolled her eyes. "Listen, this is the most basic of spells, it's also essential for you to learn unless you like wandering around in the back alleys!"

"If it's so basic, shouldn't we just skip it for now and learn something more advanced? Like eye-beams?" If it was easier than getting the harder spell out of the way was far more critical.

"Absolutely not..." Fran grumbled. "I refuse to teach you any other spell unless you learn this one first. Even if you are the master in this relationship, I'm still going to be the teacher!"

The small vampire girl gave me an ultimatum, causing me to cross my arms. Perhaps a bit of teasing was in order.

Without warning, I picked her up like some doll lifting her tiny frame over my head.

"W-what are you doing? Unhand me this instant!" Fran's face turned a bright red.

"Someone as short as you has no right to be ordering anyone around..." I pointed out, tossing her into the air.

"S-stop, stop! No matter what you do, my decision won't change! If you don't learn it in the proper order, you may cause more damage to yourself than your enemies."

I bit the inside of my cheek. I placed the small vampire girl on the ground conceding. "Alright, alright, I'll learn the sun shield first."

"G-good!" Fran straightened her dress. "Now let me show you how to apply it." Fran pressed her hands to her chest, causing a black aura to envelop her fingertips. After a second, a small bubble wrapped its way around her before tightening itself around her limbs.

"That's it. It's as simple as that!" Fran smiled while I poked her.

"I don't see anything at all. I guess it's invisible to the naked eye."

"Of course, though you need to be careful since light won't reflect off of you, so people with a keen eye will know something's wrong."

That made sense, the spell probably didn't replicate how light bounces off the skin.

"So all I have to do is focus and replicate the motions, right?" I asked, causing Fran to wave her hand back and forth.

"Pretty much, it should only take four hours to learn!"

"...Don't act like that isn't a long time!" I shouted, running my hand through my brown hair.

"Fufufufu, if you want to burn bridges then I suggest you get to work." Fran then jumped onto a nearby table, crossing her legs staring at me.

I had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

**Author note.**

**An idea that popped into my head after reading about some different types of magic. Thought it'd be fun to play around with, this may be a one-shot depending on how popular it is.**

**I also wanted to play with expectations. While Fran is a 200 year old vampire that probably killed more people than most meet in their lifetime, she found value in her life not to want it to end.**

**Contrast that to Armel who doesn't really care anymore and felt his biggest contribution would be letting someone else live. Something I wouldn't mind playing with more.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**What it means to be a Vampire.**

"How was that?" I lifted my head, looking at the many small craters that I had placed in Fran's main hall. "Um, sorry about that..."

I was so focused on practicing magic I had completely forgotten where I was. Despite the horrible condition, the building was still technically Fran's home. It'd be pretty shitty if I just went around wrecking it.

Then again I probably should have thought about that before I started blasting cross beams from out of my wrists.

"You did as well as I expected you to do..." Fran yawned curling up on the sofa like a cat. Her eyes looked towards the roof, taking note of the many beams of sunlight leaking through. "I guess it's bedtime for me."

"Bedtime?" I raised my brow walking over to the lying vampire. "What do you mean, didn't I tell you I have some bridges I need to burn?" It was incredibly petty of me, but this was a once in a lifetime chance to show up my family.

"You can do that without me...I'll catch up later," Fran said, rolling over showing her back to me. I was tempted to tug on her hair like a child pulling on a classmate's hair, but decided against it.

After all, Fran probably took care of me while I was asleep. Though I had to wonder how much sleep vampires even needed? I stayed up all night, and I didn't feel any fatigue from it. Maybe it was a side effect from her giving up most of her power.

"Alright, but how will you find me?" I didn't want Fran just wandering around town looking for me.

Fran opened one of her eyes before she grumbled. She then pulled out a few strands of her long black hair. The hair then turned into a strange fluid as it dripped onto the floor, slowly clinging to my shadow. "Just call my name, and I'll appear."

"Geez, that's not creepy at all," I sighed before I scratched the back of my head. I didn't know what she did to my shadow but decided not to question. After all, I had more important things to do. "I'll contact you later...I guess."

With those words, I made show my sun shield was active. It would have been pretty embarrassing if I took a step outside of the manor and my body got set on fire.

The moment I exited the dilapidated building, it was like I walked into another world. Even though it had only been a day, it felt like an eternity. A part of me wondered if everything that had happened was some dream.

All my fears were quelled when I stepped into the sunlight proper.

"This isn't right," I frowned while I looked at my skin and how the sunlight reflected off of my body...or rather how it didn't.

My body wasn't like a dark-void, it had light, but it was as if the light was baked into my skin rather than a natural light source.

"Maybe the sun shield replicates what light is supposed to look like?" I said, examining my body. It was still somewhat uncanny, but it made sense since the sunlight technically wasn't touching me.

I walked down the lonely path leading back down to the town. The closer I got to the city, the thicker the smell of sea-salt was a smell that I was all too familiar with.

"Seaweed town," I sighed recalling the name. The town itself wasn't particularly impressive, despite it being close to the sea most of the business came from trading foods and other goods.

In a way, it was a port town that barely used the sea. Not that I minded, knowing my luck my father would have tried to ship me off somewhere so he wouldn't have to see me.

Speaking of which, it was time for me to head home. I walked past the many shops and building in the area, reaching the opposite end of the town.

It didn't take long for me to make it to my house, which was an eyesore. It was the biggest house in the town, something that my father was consistently quick to point out to anyone that talked to him.

My eyes then fell to the front of the house, causing me to notice the stacks of suitcases packed in front.

"...Bastard," I groaned. I should have been thankful that they took the time to pack my things before just dumping them outside. Still, despite that act of 'kindness,' I could feel a particular rage building in my chest.

I lifted my fist, attempting to knock on the door, but the moment my knuckle touched the wooden door, it was blown back like I had kicked it down.

"E-eh? That wasn't supposed to happen!" I winced as the door went flying into the kitchen. It was probably far too late to make a quiet entrance.

"What the hell was that?" I heard a voicing coming from upstairs.

A mixture of both fear and excitement filled me. There was only one person that could be.

An older gentleman with short brown hair and a stern look descended the stairs. The moment he laid eyes on me, his expression turned sour. "Oh, it's you..."

"Nice to see you too, though considering all my stuff is outside you probably want me gone." I scoffed while the man I called father looked at the busted door.

"Did you do this?"

I paused for a moment looking at the broken hinges and damaged plates that laid about in the kitchen. "Would you believe me if I said it was an accident?"

"Considering it's you, I actually would." The man's condescending tone was what I hated most about him. "Also, your eyes are red, did you stay up all night wasting time again?"

Not a hint of concern in his voice either, though considering what I had now I wasn't going to have to listen to his empty words for much longer.

"Hey dad, can I ask you something?" Perhaps giving the context of the situation it was far to forward, but I hoped he would entertain me for a little while.

The man gritted his teeth before he grunted. "I suppose I can tell you that much before I kick you out."

I had a feeling that he was about to go on one of his tirades against me as a person. Before I would sit there and take it, but now I was feeling a bit more confident.

"To me, you were an asset that I could never cash in on. Like raising a rotting tomato, you know it's going to be useless once it's fully grown, but you keep building it anyway hoping you'd get some use out of it," my father said causing me to take a deep breath.

I guess he was as fed up with me as I was with him.

"I see..." I looked towards the ceiling of the house. I knew my dad's study was on the second floor. Without even thinking about it, I raised my arm opening my palm. I aimed it straight to the ceiling.

"Dark Cross!" I shouted as my palm glowed, in an instant, an impact shaped like a cross penetrated the ceiling, destroying both my dad's study and roof.

My old man was flung backward; the sheer terror on his face was liberating. I spent so much of my life being his verbal punching bag, so to push those feelings back onto him was beautiful.

"Y-you can use m-magic w-when did yo-"

"I'm going to destroy all of it," I replied bluntly lifting my other arm. "This entire house, I'm going to level it to the ground!" Truthfully I didn't need to do it, and even if I did, the old man had enough money to have a new one by next week.

Then again, it wasn't about leaving him homeless. It was about sending a message.

"L-listen Armel l-let's not be too hast-"

I ignored him, shooting another cross like impact towards the floor, destroying the studs keeping the floor up while also kicking up even more debris.

"The only reason you want to talk now is because you realize you can't stop me, right?" I smiled. "You're a mage too right dad! Use your magic and stop me right now!" I placed my hand against my chest, egging him on.

My father just sat frozen as the house he had built started to wobble.

"You can't can you? Despite all that pride you have in being a mage, you aren't that good at it yourself, huh?" I opened my palm, shooting another blast through the house.

From there, I just continued until I was satisfied. Luckily for my father, I left the building standing, though I doubted much of it could be salvaged.

As I walked out of the house, picking up a few of my bags from the ground, I sighed. After the initial burst of joy, I was already starting to regret some of my actions.

The neighbors were already starting to walk out of their homes to see what the fuss was about. I tried my best to ignore them, and head back into the town proper. I doubted my dad would call the authorities on me. His pride wouldn't allow it.

"You know, that was surprisingly petty..."

My ears twitched as I heard Fran's voice. I looked around, but the small vampire was nowhere to be found. "Um, Fran, where are you?" I asked before my shadow started to shake uncontrollably. Then, as if it were a puddle, Fran rose from it like a fish rising from a lake.

I nearly yelped before taking a few steps back. "D-don't just do something like that!" I shouted, pointing to her.

"Shh!" Fran quickly pressed her finger to her lips. "Do you want to draw the attention of the entire town? Then again considering what you did to your house, it may be too late to be subtle."

The moment she brought up my house, I couldn't help but grumble. "So...you saw that?"

"Yes, I am quite impressed with your use of Dark Cross, though I think you could work on keeping the shape consistent," Fran stated, almost like I was a child being lectured by a teacher.

"I-Is that all you have to say about it?"

Fran simply tilted her head and scoffed. "What? Do you want me to reprimand you or something? If you feel bad, then feel bad, if you don't, then don't. You're the one who said he wanted to burn bridges, having second thoughts after the act has been completed is childish."

I sucked in a deep breath, despite her harsh words, Fran was right. I was the one who wanted to make a fool out of my father, regretting it now would make me look like an idiot.

"Alright, I get it," I said. "By the way, I finished everything I had to do, so do you need help with anything?" I decided to switch my attention to Fran for the time being.

"Oh?" Fran raised her eyebrow. "Asking a vampire what they would like how bo-"

I didn't even let her finish the statement, instead opting to place my hand on her head, messing up her hair. "Again, trying at all tough while looking like a kid."

Fran's cheeks puffed before she swiped away my hands. "Enough, and to answer your question, yes I need your help with something."

"What is it?" I asked.

Fran cleared her throat, fixing the hair that I had just messed up. "You know how I told you that I want to get my old power back?"

"Yeah, I was going to ask. How are you going to do that without taking it back from me?" It had been in the back of my head. She said she gave me a majority of her magical power.

Fran laughed like I had said something stupid. "I have to build it back up by consuming demons!"

"That's it?" I replied.

"That's it..." She answered.

...

...

"Don't act like that's not a huge task!" I snapped, causing the black-haired vampire's ears to twitch.

Fran scrunched up her face before she placed her hands on her hips. "Don't tell me you're afraid. I thought you had more courage than that." It seemed that Fran completely missed the point of my comment.

"It's not like demons are just walking around, how are we going to fi-" I was cut off by a growl coming from my stomach.

It made sense that I was hungry; it had nearly been twenty-four hours since I ate. I was more shocked that it took that long for me to need something to eat.

"Why don't we continue this after we get something to eat?" I said, smiling at Fran. "You're probably hungry too considering you've been trapped for over thirty years."

Fran began to open her mouth to say something but quickly stopped herself. "...Perhaps it's something you should figure out by yourself."

I raised my brow. Once again, the small vampire was cryptic. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, where are we going to eat anyway?" Fran quickly changed the subject.

I decided not to push her too much, considering this was going to most likely be my last meal in Seaweed town, I needed to make it count.

I crossed my arms, swaying my head back and forth. "There is a food cart that sells kebabs near here. We can pick a few up for pretty cheap."

The moment I mentioned the meat on a stick, Fran's eyes narrowed, like a disapproving grandmother. "Kebabs? If I were your date, I would have asked you to take me home this instant..."

I rolled my eyes. "Good, I wouldn't want a girl who'd pass up free food anyway," I replied, causing the vampire's nostrils to flare.

"Fine, fine I suppose it doesn't matter in the end, but next time I'll be the one picking where to eat!" Fran said.

Once it was settled, we made our way to the food cart in question. The smell of sizzling meats and vegetables started to make my already grumbling stomach cry out even more. I shoved my hand into my pockets and bags trying my best to scrounge up what little amount of jewels I had to make sure both Fran and I would be adequately fed.

"Okay, let's see..." I started to count up the jewels, paying little mind to the fact that Fran had walked straight past me and up to the cook.

"Hey mister, can you please give us ten kebabs for free?" Fran's innocent voice contrasted the strange look she was giving the man.

"...Sure, I don't mind!" The man didn't even hesitate to pretty much give us everything he had on the grill for no charge. A part of me wanted to chalk it up to Fran's cuteness, but I had a feeling it was another reason.

"Here you go!" Fran handed me five of the kebabs as she made her way to a nearby bench.

I mumbled something under my breath before taking a seat next to her. "So, how did you manage to convince that guy to give you all of his food for free?" If I tried to beat around the bush, I had a feeling Fran would feed me a lie.

"Oh, that? It's a simple vampire spell, Direct Charm." Fran then took a bite out of one of her many kebabs. "It only works on one person at a time, and it's pretty easy to break if you lose focus. Though it does let you get plenty of things for free if you know how to use it."

"In other words, you stole it..." I slumped my shoulders as Fran stuck another kebab in her mouth. Despite her small stature, she was wolfing down the food at an alarming rate.

"As a vampire, you shouldn't worry about such things, besides we are eating for fun right now..."

Once again, she said something strange, but I decided not to overthink it. "What's done is done, I guess," while I didn't feel good about it, I decided to start eating the food.

Then something strange happened, while the food tasted normal every time I swallowed I got a strangely empty feeling. Like the food wasn't going to my stomach.

I managed to finish all five of my kebabs, and I was still hungry. No, somehow I was even hungrier than before I even started eating.

"Maybe...I need something bigger," I frowned. I stood back up, looking around the area for another cart as Fran grabbed my arm.

"That won't help," Fran said, crossing her legs. "You're a vampire now, so that kind of food won't satisfy you at all."

I grew pale, well, I was a vampire, so I was already pale. Instead, I became paler. "What do you mean it won't satisfy me?"

"I'm saying that it won't quell your hunger," Fran replied. "The acids in our stomach completely dissolve most foods, meaning they can't be used to give us nutrients. On the plus side, you'll never have to use the bathroom again."

I knew I should have expected as much, but it still came as a shock to me. "So, what foods can we eat?" I knew it was a stupid question considering what we were, but I felt the need to do so.

A cruel smile slowly crept onto Fran's face, almost like she was excited to tell me what exactly I was going to have to put into my mouth. "Raw flesh and blood is the only thing that will stop your hunger pains."

"...Damn it," I grumbled.

Fran just giggled jumping from the bench. "If it means anything, it doesn't have to be human blood or flesh. I know most young vampires tend to avoid that until they get more...comfortable with the idea."

I gritted my teeth. Fran was enjoying my discomfort far too much. Perhaps this was payback for picking her up like a doll earlier.

"Shit, I don't want to be a cannibal..." I whispered those words under my breath, both in fear that one of the many people passing by would hear me and for my own sanity.

"Pfft," that was the sound that escaped Fran's mouth. "I understand, if you are done in this town, I suggest we move to a less crowded area like the nearby woods. From there I'll find something for the two of us to eat."

I didn't like it, mostly because it felt like I was being taken care of. Then again, Fran had far more experience than me, so I had to follow her lead.

"I guess it is time we start moving on from this town." After what I did to my house I was completely satisfied. I didn't have anything like friends or family I needed to worry about, and the biggest thing I'll miss from Seaweed town would be the food. "Do you need anything from your mansion?"

"No, if I do I'll return on my own time." Fran twirled her hair, "by the way Armel, what year is it?"

My eyes widened. "It's X784, did you lose track of the time that badly?"

Fran just crossed her arms and pouted. "My apologies, but being trapped under a pillar for years tend to make you lose your sense of time."

Her reply was warranted. "Sorry," I sighed. The more I thought about it, the more I realized Fran probably had very little knowledge on the advancements in both magic and technology.

"Then if we have no more things to do here we should be on our way," Fran said, then without warning like a serpent coiling around its prey, Fran clung to my back crawling up my body and onto my shoulders.

"...What are you doing?" I asked bluntly as she placed her hands on my head.

"Oh? You actually expect me to walk?" Fran chuckled. "You should be grateful that my hands are blessing your head with their presence."

"Oy, if you are going to be using me like a horse and carriage you better be ready to pay a toll!" I snapped, but Fran puffed out her chest.

"Think of it as you paying me back for all the magic I have taught you and going to teach you," Fran patted my head like a drum causing me to groan. When she put it that way, I suppose I had no reason to complain.

We left Seaweed town, along with any connections I had to my past. The step was a lot easier than I thought, perhaps because it was something I wanted to do for a while, but never dared to put it into action.

We walked along the road until Fran steered me to the direction of a nearby forest. The moment she knew we were out of sight, she jumped off my head and dusted herself off.

"This seems like a good spot to do some hunting" Fran said as she stretched. "Though before that, it might be better to teach you a bit more about magic. As I said, I wasn't delighted with your use of Dark Cross earlier today."

"Geez, never thought you'd be a stickler for perfection." I sat down on a nearby rock. Considering the context in which I was using the spell, she'd have to excuse me for not worrying about my technique while I was yelling at my dad.

"Well, Dark Cross and Sun Sheild are the most basic of vampire magic. If you get sloppy while casting them, then you'll have trouble with more advanced spells." Fran placed her hands behind her back as she walked in circles.

"I know," I replied, "but speaking of magic. You never showed me how to shoot eye-beams yet!" I brought the conversation back around to what was truly important.

"You're really on that aren't you..." Fran placed her hands on her hips. I could feel the judgment coming from her crimson eyes.

I pouted crossing my arms and giving her a somewhat pathetic stare. "You're the older vampire here. You should give in to the demands of your junior every once in a while..."

The moment I said that the small vampire's eye twitched, "I-I get it, just stop giving me that look," Fran told me before straightening her body.

"I'll only show you this once since it's an advanced spell." Fran pulled her hair back as her eyes widened. I sat up in my seat, my heart racing; this was the moment all boys dreamed of.

Then in an instant, small slits appeared in Fran's pupils followed by the sound of the wind being cut. I noticed the trees blowing backward while Fran's head recoiled back as if a shotgun had been fired from her eyes.

I looked forward taking note at the destruction that was caused. The attacked had pierced five, boulders and many trees like they were nothing. And that was only the destruction that I saw. It seemed that the attack had a piercing effect, drilling through any object regardless of density.

"W-wow..." I stuttered.

"I know quite impressive. The attack can even pierce through diamond without much issue, though it can only be used every two minutes," Fran said, causing me to glance back over to her.

"Why is th-" I stopped myself as I looked at Fran's face. Streams of blood were pouring out of her eye sockets. Not only that, but her eyes were closed as if she was trying to spare me from what her eyeballs must have looked like.

"The spell uses pressurized fluid located from inside of the eyeball. While the attack is powerful, usually being fatal even to those that clad themselves in steel and diamond, it is also incredibly risky since it damages your eye."

I swallowed harshly. "A-are you okay?" Once again, I asked a pretty dumb question.

"This?" Fran pointed to her still bleeding eye-socket. "I'm fine; we vampires can heal most wounds in an instant. If our limbs get cut off, we can reattach them, and if we can't find them, they'll grow back in a few days. The only thing you have to worry about is decapitation or getting stabbed through the heart."

Just like Fran said, her eyes healed after a few minutes. Almost like they were never torn open. Despite that, I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about asking her to use something that would hurt her.

"You...could have told me that was going to happen to your eyes," I said.

Fran just sighed. "Your concern is appreciated, but not necessary. I could jam my entire hand into my brain and be fine."

"Please don't!" I lifted both of my hands, prompting Fran to laugh.

"Anyway, don't get too wrapped up in using magic all the time," Fran wagged her finger. "As a vampire, you can overpower most mages on sheer physical might. Sometimes the best solution to a problem is punching someone's head off!"

Fran sounded far too excited about the prospect of using her fists to remove someone's skull. Though I did wonder just how strong I've gotten physically. I did accidentally punched my door in when I went home, so I probably was a lot stronger.

"Anyway, practice Dark Cross while I go find us something to feed on," Fran said before she jumped on a nearby tree. I didn't even have a chance to ask her where she was going to look before the small vampire jumped away.

"Geez, if you're going to teach me at least stick around to see if I'm doing it right or not."

Even though I had my gripes, I followed Fran's instructions practicing the spell. The day slowly passed by, as my body grew weaker and weaker.

It wasn't due to magical fatigue, but rather it was from the lack of eating. The once midday sun turned into evening and the evening turned into night, all with no sign of Fran.

On the plus side, I figured out I could see in the dark.

"Shit...where is she..." I held my stomach as I lied face first in the dirt. It had been hours since the little vampire had left, and I was starving.

A part of me wondered if she got caught up in some trap, that was until I noticed something massive fall from the sky with a loud thump.

My eyes quickly tracked the object. It was a horse of some kind. Its neck had been broken, twisted to the point it was facing the wrong way.

"Phew, talk about bothersome." I heard a familiar voice come from the trees. Just then Fran jumped from the branches landing in front of the horse.

I didn't say a word while Fran kicked the creature before turning her head towards me. "Sorry that took so long, I couldn't very well carry an entire horse on my back in the middle of the day."

I swallowed harshly looking at the creature. I never expected Fran to bring back an entire horse, and I certainly didn't expect her to do what she did next.

"I guess it's time to start..." With those simple words, Fran tore open the creature stomach and started to go to town. Her slender and tiny form devouring like a mad dog was unsettling.

Her pure white and black dress grew more crimson with each passing second while she continued to tear apart the animal.

After a few seconds, she stopped looking at me. "What's wrong?" She asked before standing up. She attempted to wipe her face, but she somehow managed to get even more blood on it. "It's not human, so you should be able to eat it just fine."

The innocence in her voice told me she genuine didn't think there was anything strange about what she was doing, even more so when she ripped out a chunk of flesh from the animal and handed it to me.

"You need to eat something..." Fran insisted as I looked down at the bleeding piece of meat preparing to take a bite.

It seemed that in the end, this was what it meant to be a vampire.

**Author note**

**Long chapter**

**Not much else to say really, just that the next arc will be the start of the Lullaby arc.**

**I didn't want to go too much into Armel backstory since I want to explore it later.**

**Dark Cross is an actual spell from another series that the creator wrote called Monster Soul. A vampire also uses the spell so I figured it would be a good match.**

**The whiplash at the end of the chapter was intentional. Up to that point, the chapter has been light-hearted with maybe one depressing moment, but like with Armel himself. I wanted to slam into the reality of what it meant to be a vampire. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**The supposed Demon Flute Lullaby.**

I crossed my arms, the smell of alcohol and food filled my brain. I glanced over to Fran' who's elbows were on the table, an expression matching a sloth painted across her face.

"I'm honestly shocked they let you in here..." I pointed out. The bar patrons were drinking and chatting it up like one usually does in a bar.

"Hey young man, I just thought of a song. Both the lyrics and music are Francisca Von Wimpffen originals..." Fran let out a sigh, blowing some of her bangs out of her eyes.

"You...must be bored, huh?" I replied bluntly. I couldn't blame her. We had been hanging around for hours, hoping to get some information.

"The song goes like this..." Fran cleared her throat. _"Strudel la, strudel la, lalelalela, strudel la!"_

My eyes narrowed at Fran's rather poor attempt at music. "That's good, no doubt in my top three songs of all time!" I made my sarcasm readily apparent, causing Fran to puff out her chest.

"Yep, it will probably be a hit in Veronica," Fran said, waving her hands. I had no idea if she understood I was teasing her or not.

"Anyway we should pr-" I couldn't even finish my statement as Fran pressed her finger to her lips indicating that I should stop speaking.

Fran's long ears twitched while her eyes scanned each person. After a few minutes of us sitting in silence, Fran let out a chuckle. "Lullaby, huh?"

"Hmm, did you say something?" I asked, causing the black-haired vampire to tap her lip scanning the area once again. I noticed her eyeing a nearby woman clad in armor.

"Don't worry about it. I just found our next target..." Fran leaned back in her chair, her eyes adverting turning back to me. I noticed her ears still twitching, making me wonder what exactly she was listening to.

We hung around the bar for another thirty minutes, or at least until everyone Fran was spying on had vanished. The young looking vampire then motioned me out of the bar.

"I guess you got some information?" I asked, my eyes quickly darting around the town. I didn't know why, but I had a strange feeling that Fran was going to start talking about something shady.

"Of course!" Fran flipped her hair. "Due to my elegantly enhanced hearing, I was able to pick up on a certain rumor about a magical item."

I raised my brow. "How can hearing be elegant, no wait, nevermind. What about this rumor?" I decided to cut straight to the point instead of worrying about the way Fran spoke.

"Huhuh!" Fran snorted. "I'll tell you all about it, but not here...I don't want anyone else listening in on our conversations."

"Isn't that a bit ironic considering you only got the information by eavesdropping?" Though it did confirm that whatever Fran had to say it was indeed dubious.

We went back to the inn we were staying in, due to Fran's abilities we were able to stay there without any costs. It never really passed my mind that a mundane magic like charm had so many uses.

The moment we arrived back in our room, Fran jumped on the bed, jumping on the sheets for a bit. "Ah, lying on a bed after spending thirty years pinned to the ground is refreshing."

"Um, hey Fran...about what you heard in the bar?" I asked prompting the Fran to sit, the springs in the mattress bouncing her ever so slightly.

"Ah yes, Lullaby. It's a demon that is also a flute that plays a song of death." Fran pressed her fingers to her cheeks, causing me to shiver.

"Man, you sure can say some terrifying things casually..."

"Of course I can, I'm a vampire." Fran gave me a toothy grin before she continued her statement. "Most humans assume it's a cursed item, not realizing it's technically alive."

I rubbed my chin sitting in the nearby chair. "I guess you want to go after it, right?"

"Of course!" Fran replied. "I recall Lullaby was a real weakling, plus if he is sealed in his flute form we might not even have to fight!"

I felt my lips twisting into a neutral position. The prospect of not having to fight somewhat excited me, weakling or not, avoiding combat with a demon seemed like the smartest decision at the moment.

"I'm shocked that you managed to overhear this in the bar earlier..." I said, genuinely impressed by Fran's hearing range.

The vampire then pointed to her ears and smiled. "One of the many perks of being a vampire, soon you'll be able to hear things off in the distance as well!" Fran snorted, causing me to tug on my ears.

I paused for a second; my eyes still glued to Fran's listeners. "Will I get pointed ears like you?"

Fran brushed her hair to the side and chuckled. "Sure, though it takes about ten years for them to grow, that's actually how you can tell the difference between a seasoned vampire and someone that was just turned into one."

"I see..." I closed my eyes. "That means I have ten years before I look like a complete idiot," I said those words without even thinking.

"..."

"..."

"W-what is that supposed to mean!" Fran snapped, causing me to turn my head.

"I-I mean it looks good on a girl." I waved my hand, trying my best not to make eye contact with the black-haired vampire.

Fran's lips twisted as she let out a harsh mumble. "I'll ignore that comment for now, besides once you get pointed ears, you'll realize the perfection of their design."

"To get back to the subject at hand, do you know where Lullaby is?" I asked, not wanting to hear about how great pointed ears were any longer.

"Not at all..." Fran said, lying back on the sheets.

I blinked, my gaze fixated on her form. "Not at all?"

"Not at all..." She stated once again.

I took a deep breath. Then, without warning, I wrapped my hand around Fran's foot, dragging her out of bed.

"Wah!" The vampire let out a cry as I lifted her into the air. "Unhand me!"

I decided to ignore her plea. "Aren't you getting ahead of yourself? I thought you knew where this flute was, but for all, we know it could be halfway across the world!"

"Y-you don't think I took that into consideration?" Fran snapped. "I got another lead along with it. Apparently, it's in the hands of Eisenwald."

"Eisenwald?" I tilted my head, dropping the vampire onto the ground.

"I think it's a dark guild of some kind..." Fran jumped up, dusting herself off. "I think I have a pretty good idea where they are actually."

My eyes widened, "r-really?" I suppose it was to be expected. A 200-year-old vampire would know at least a few guilds, even if she had been stuck under a rock for thirty years.

"Yes, I recall the founder is from the same country as I am, the name Eisenwald means Iron Forest in my language."

That brought up something I hadn't realized. "Fran, you're not from Fiore are you?"

"Of course not, I'm from Seven. Perhaps I should take you there when we get the chance," Fran's words piqued my interest. I had never been out of Fiore for most of my life, and the only glimpse of the other kingdoms I had was when my mother talked about it.

"That...sounds fun," I admitted.

"Then I shall put it on our calendar," Fran said.

"Alright, so where is this Eisenwald?" I asked. Once again, I wasn't excited about fighting, but knowing Fran, she probably had a basic plan on getting us in and out without even having to throw a punch.

"If it's in the same location as it was forty years ago it should take us a few days to get there, from there I shall devise a plan to take the flute from them."

"If that's the case, I'll let you lead the way..." I waved my arms.

"Oh~ I guess you are more of a follower, huh?" Fran giggled. "I need to break that habit of yours."

I didn't like how she phrased her comment, but once again, it wasn't something I could disagree with. "Pretty harsh words for someone who wanted to be the servant in this relationship." I pointed to the black-haired vampire forcing her nostrils to flare.

"It's because I'm your servant is why I want you to be more assertive. Serving someone weak-willed is a fate nearly as bad as death."

"Alright, I get it..." I sighed. "I suppose we are going to leave tonight?"

"Of course, that is the best time for us vampires to travel."

Just like Fran said we left the inn that night, most people would be horrified at traveling after dark, but I found it oddly relaxing. Perhaps it was because of my enhanced sight in the dark. Most humans probably disliked it due to the fear of the unknown, but since there wasn't a difference in my vision in the darkness or light, it seemed like any other trip.

Just like before Fran was sitting on my shoulders, her hands resting on the top of my head. "By the way, don't you think you're going a little slow?"

"Don't complain! If we're going too slow, maybe you should try carrying me!" I realized just how stupid my comment was, but it was far too late to take it back.

Fran just groaned, "I was trying to push you into your next lesson subtly, but it seems I need to be blunter." Fran then lifted her finger, pointing to a tree in the distance. "I want you to run to that tree as fast as you can."

"That's it?" I raised my brow. "This sounds more like you want me to run around."

A sly smile appeared across Fran's face. "Maybe, but you should get ahold of the physical aspects of your abilities. Since it's the middle of the night, we are free to do a bit of practice until we get to our destination."

I decided not to question it, "so you want me to run as fast as possible towards that tree?" I asked, looking at the horizon. I assumed it would take at least two minutes running at full speed to clear the distance.

"Hey, before we start you sh-" I didn't let Fran finish her statement as I dashed towards the tree in the distance.

Before I even had time to comprehend how fast I was going, I slammed face first into the tree, Fran flew off of my shoulders sliding against the grass and dirt of the field.

I covered my reddened face, looking over to Fran, who was already back on her feet. Various blades of grass and dirt coated her dress causing her to let out a sigh. "You should listen to me when I'm talking..." Fran was surprisingly calm, despite what just happened.

"Yeah, sorry..." I grumbled looking to where I was. The fact that I was able to clear such a distance in a few seconds was frightening even more so since I didn't feel tired at all.

"Don't worry about it. You just need more time to get used to your new body." Fran dusted her body off, before jumping back onto my shoulders. "I rather you screw up here than in the middle of a fight."

It was something a teacher would say. "Stop acting like that when you sound like a little girl!" I wasn't even trying to insult her. The difference was too jarring for me to ignore.

"If you wish for it to stop then I suggest you hurry up and help me gain my power back," Fran let out a hotty laugh forcing me to groan.

After we continued to make our way towards our destination, stopping now and then to work on controlling my physical strength. It was a bit strange, being told not to put too much effort in moving around.

It hadn't been something I noticed when I moved around regularly, but the moment I exerted myself, it was clear that I had surpassed most normal human limits.

After a few days of traveling, we finally reached the supposed dark guild. At least it looked the part, dead leaves and twigs scattered the area, with a dark menacing building that looked closer to a cathedral than a place people would live.

"I-I know they are supposed to be a dark guild, but couldn't they have picked a better location?" Just because they were a dark guild, it didn't mean they had to pick a drab and gloomy area.

"Thinking about making it your castle?" Fran teased.

"Like hell, I don't even want a castle!" I shot back. I couldn't even imagine what I would do with all that space. I then looked at the building proper. My heart slowly sinking into the pit of my stomach. "I doubt they are just going to welcome us in..."

Fran twirled her hair, dragging me off of the road and into the nearby brush. From there we got closer to the guild house, looking at every entrance.

"So what do we do now?" I whispered I couldn't see anyone coming in or out of the building. At the same time, I wasn't going to risk breaking in only to be swamped by dozens of dark-guild members.

"I'll sneak in try to find Lullaby," Fran stated as she pulled out a few strands of her hair and dripped it into my shadow. I was tempted to ask what type of magic she was using since I had seen it before, but now wasn't the time or place to ask that.

"Are you going to be okay on your own?" I asked.

Fran scoffed crawling up a nearby tree like a spider. She then grabbed ahold of a sturdy branch spinning on it like she was a gymnast. With a single bound, she lept through the air and the nearby window.

After a few minutes, my body relaxed. "I guess if I don't hear any explosions, which means that Fran hasn't been found out yet." I sat against a nearby tree, waiting for the vampire to return.

Time passed before I heard a massive crashing sound. I instantly sat up to notice the front door to the guild house being kicked down. I ran to the entrance seeing Fran standing at the gates, a small piece of paper in her hands.

"No one was home..." She said casually running her hand through her hair.

"Talk about anticlimactic," I said aloud. I was expecting a great big chase where Fran and I would have to escape a horde of dark-guild members. At least something besides everyone going out for coffee or something.

"Don't be disappointed just yet," Fran closed one of her eyes lifting the sheet of paper. "They did leave us instructions on where they are headed to next, and by the looks of it we just missed them."

"Where are they going?" I asked peeking at the scribbles.

"They don't detail a lot, but they do say that they were going to Oshibanana Town."

"..."

"..."

"That's wrong, Fran," I said as cooly as possible.

"Hmm?" Fran's eyes widened, looking at the paper, not understanding what she got wrong.

"The information is fine. It's the name. You got the name wrong." I said. "It's Oshibana Town. It has nothing to do with the fruit, well you'd be closer if you said it was dried bananas."

Fran grumbled. "That sounds about right. I forgot how slapdashed Fiore's naming conventions were," Fran complained, but I had a feeling it was more to do with her inability to pronounce it correctly. "Regardless, they are taking a train to there..."

I paused, thinking about the train schedules. "The first trains probably don't start running for another few hours, meaning that we can probably catch up to them if we head straight to the station."

The sun had just rose after all, though I had no idea how an entire guild could fit on a single train.

The two of us rushed back to the station, with plenty of time to spare we sat at a nearby bench examining any suspicious passerby we came across. The station was slowly starting to get filled with, most likely due to the first train arriving.

"Hey Fran, do you see anyone?"

"I see plenty of people Armel..." Fran replied, causing my eye to twitch.

"You know what I mean!" I tried to keep my voice down, but considering we were on a time limit playing her playing dumb seemed a bit silly.

Fran lifted her finger and chuckled. "Just a small vampire joke, I'll tell you if I notice anything o-" Fran cut herself off as her eyes zeroed in on a rather well-dressed man.

He had a white jacket, and his hair was tied in a pony-tail.

"I suppose he is the one that has it...right?" I asked, prompting Fran to nod. I checked the nearby clock. We had about five minutes before the train arrived, we had already got all the tickets for every possible train, thanks to Fran's direct charm. "What do we do now?"

"Let's kill him and take the flute, a single fist through the heart should do it..." Fran lifted her hand as if she was raising a blade.

"I-isn't that too extreme right out of the gate?" I would prefer at least try to steal it from the guy before ripping organs out.

"Not really," Fran whispered, standing up, making sure not to lose track of her prey. "But perhaps we should wait until we are in a less crowded area, maybe the train interior would be the best place for the execution."

I shivered at the small vampire's words, but we quietly ghosted the main onto the tram proper. The moment we got on the train, I felt my stomach churn a bit, not because of the movement of the train, but rather the feeling I got from the surroundings.

Our target was indeed sitting down, along with a few other uncouth gentlemen. It didn't take a genius to realize we stepped into a rather dangerous situation.

Despite that, I decided not to draw too much attention to ourselves. We took a seat, my heart racing, maybe Fran had the right idea...we should have killed him back at the station.

We waited silently as the train started moving. I'd hope that the surrounding passengers would begin talking about meaningless stuff, but they just sat silent...all of them eyeing us.

"Shit, do you think they know we're following them?" I whispered to Fran, who was taking the whole situation rather well.

"Perhaps, be on guard, our goal is Lullaby, nothing else matters."

Her conviction on the matter was endearing if a bit annoying. Still, if the only thing they were doing was glaring at us, then it shouldn't have been too bad.

At least that is what I thought until the well-dressed man stood up walking straight up to the two of us. A sly grin appeared on his face, almost like he was sizing us up.

"What are you two doing in this wagon? Don't you know it's reserved?" The way he was speaking told me that it, in fact, had not been reserved.

"Gosh, I do believe we failed to see the note on the side of the wagon, please forgive us this one time." Despite her words, I could tell Fran was taking the piss, something that our guest didn't appreciate.

"You little brat, do you know who I am?"

"Should I?" Fran sly smile was the final straw, the man lifted his foot, but he wasn't aiming at the little girl that insulted him, but instead at me.

I wanted to point out that I wasn't the one that insulted him, but I didn't get the chance to. Instead, I heard a familiar sound of wind being split apart, a thin beam of blood and water pierced the man as well as the tram wall behind him.

I turned to see Fran; one of her eyes were bleeding profusely. It didn't take a genius to realize that she used the laser eyes.

"D-damn it!" The man collapsed on the floor, holding his chest. Blood was dripping out of the coin-shaped hole in his body. Fran didn't hesitate to yank the flute from his arms, causing all of his comrades to stand up.

"Hahahaha! The flute is ours!" Fran snorted, in a single motion she shattered the nearby window jumping through the opening she created. "Come on, Armel!" She then clung to the outside of the train like some spider, leaving me alone with seven angry men.

"D-don't just leave me here!" I cried.

"S-shit, they got Kagayama!" One man snapped.

"Forget about him. She took the flute! Erigor is going to be pissed!" Another one stated.

"Get that bastard! Maybe we can lure her back if we take him hostage or something."

I gritted my teeth, moving to the aisle proper. I didn't even think as I raised my palm. "Dark Cross!" I shouted, creating an impact.

"W-what!" One of them screamed, as the force of the attack nearly blew open a hole in the back of the train cart. I then dashed to the other cart, punching and tearing open any door in my way with sheer force.

"That went from one to one-hundred real quick..."

**Author note.**

**This was a fun chapter to write. As you can see I am pretty fond of word play, and using characters dialects and where they are from to make jokes. Since I feel word play works better in a written format.**

**I'm probably going to have a bit of fun with this arc,since I kind of want to make it a three way chase for the flute between, Fairy Tail, Eisenwald and our two Vampires.**

**Also poor Kageyama, being shot by an eyebeam.**

**I hope my references to Fairy Tail as a whole and the world isn't too overt, since I drop names of countries etc without really thinking of it.**

**Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you think so far.**

**The eye beam spell actually has a name. It's just so goofy that no vampire actually ever wants to say it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Three Way Struggle.**

"You've got to be kidding me with this shit..." I grumble dashing down the train carts. I wouldn't be able to use my full speed unless I enjoyed constantly slamming into doors.

Still, I knew I must have gained a decent amount of distance from my attackers. At least enough for me to stop and take a look at my surroundings.

It certainly was a train, but I had to be nearing the head of it. It wasn't like an endless path. The train would run out of carts sooner or later, and once it did, I'd be stuck between a rock and a group of angry mages.

"Maybe I should just jump out the win-" The moment I turned my head to the window I cut myself off, as a scene that would forever be planted in my head unfolded in front of me.

It was Fran, clinging to the side of the speeding train like a confused cat sticking to the bottom of a boat. Her cheeks were puffed up like I was the one who did something wrong. In her mouth was the demon flute Lullaby, despite the name she was handling it like someone would treat an extra bag of groceries.

She tapped on the glass a few times, causing me to wonder if she wanted me to let her in. I took a few steps towards the window, but before I could get far, I noticed Fran shoving her entire fist through the glass.

"Young man, what are you doing?" Fran poked her head through the window, completely ignoring the sharp shards of glass.

"Isn't that my line? You're the one that randomly jumped out of the train. Do you think I could do something like that so casually?"

That's right, jumping out of a train is dangerous, you could break your bones, or worse. You could end up under the tracks and crushed beneath the train. Even if I was a vampire, I didn't want to experience anything unpleasant like that.

"Hmm?" Fran tilted her head. "I assumed you would rather run than fight since you are a coward I picked the course of action that was most suited for you."

I frowned, "Oy, what's with that insult? Besides, being a coward is great; more people need to have the courage to be cowards!" I realized how stupid my statement was far before I finished the sentence, but I still said it anyway.

Fran shook her head, "I'll ignore that comment, besides. Don't you think we should take care of that person sitting over there?"

My body instantly tensed, could one of the dark-mages have made it to the cart already? I looked around to see the person she was talking about. The person in question was shivering as if they had caught a nasty cold.

He had pink hair with a long scarf wrapped around his neck, compared to me he'd probably be pretty easy to pick out of a crowd.

"I didn't think anyone else would be on the train..." Thinking about it, it was kind of strange that the only ones on the train were the two of us and the Eisenwald members.

"That's because you lack the keen eyes that I do," Fran puffed up her chest before turning her attention to the person in question. "He didn't see anything... did he?"

I wondered what she meant until I realized she was talking about my vampiric nature. I looked over to the sick boy. "I don't think he can focus on anything at the moment."

Just when I was about to examine the pink-haired teen further, I heard a loud voice shouting at Fran and me.

"There you bastards are!" Both of us turned our heads to see a mass of angry mages glaring us down. I gritted my teeth, while Fran lowered her stance, placing her limbs to the side. She looked like an animal ready to pounce instead of the elegant girl she had been up to that point.

This was it. We were going to have to fight; I took a deep breath preparing. The tram didn't have a ton of room to move around, and now that I knew there was a civilian on the train, I couldn't just use my magic carelessly.

"Are you ready, Armel?" Fran asked bluntly. The tone she was using sent a shiver down my spine. Just when it seemed that we were about to be jumped, the train went to an abrupt stop.

I nearly fell over while the sound of screeching tracks entered my ear. "D-did the conductor stop us?" I questioned before dismissing the notion.

Either way, the train was stopped.

"Ah, that feels much better!" An energetic voice screamed from one of the passenger seats. It was the same pinked hair boy that Fran and I noticed from earlier.

"Damn it, they all must be from legal guilds!" A man shouted, somehow every little thing that happened managed to piss them off even more.

"What was that?" The pink-haired teen grumbled glancing at them before back to us. I notice Fran quickly putting Lullaby behind her back, her expression changing from one of worry to a mischievous smile.

"Y-you're apart of a guild right? You have to help us!" Fran's voice changed once again, this time to something more befitting her appearance. "T-those guys, they attacked us for no reason!" Fran pointed to the Eisenwald, her fingers shaking. She quickly gripped my clothing, like she was a child being hunted.

"Eh? Who are you guys?" The teen slumped his shoulders, causing Fran to mumble something under her breath. It seemed that Fran was banking on her inherent cute factor to help her out.

"Screw this, just get them!" One of the Eisenwald screamed as four of them lifted their weapons lunging towards the three of us.

"Like I said, I don't know what's going on, but if you want a fight then you got it!" The pink-haired mage reeled his fist back, in an instant, a torrent of flames escaped his knuckles. In a moment, the entire group was sent flying back.

I stood frozen before I felt Fran's hand wrapping itself around mine, dragging me further into the train.

"That was easier than I expected..." Fran whispered, opening another window. "Do you have a problem with this window as well? Must I place a mattress on our landing spot, so you don't hurt or sensitive fanny?"

I could feel my cheeks turning red. The worst part of Fran's teasing was that I thoroughly deserved it for how I froze up earlier. Regardless we crawled out of the window landing on the dirt below.

"What do we do now?" I asked. Heading back to the station seemed like a bad idea, but the train was probably going to be swarming with people soon enough.

"We head to the next town and lie low," Fran replied, looking at the strange skull flute. "We can't hold on to this thing for long, if we were normal mages it wouldn't be a big deal, but since we're vampires, our presence may force this thing to wake up sooner."

I swallowed harshly. "If that's the case, why don't you take its power now?" I didn't want a random demon to start rampaging around for no reason.

"I can't. Once I devour it, I will sleep anywhere between two hours or twenty-four hours depending on the strength of the demon. I have to be sure we are safe before I do something like that." Fran pointed out before her eyes narrowed. "Unless...you think you are capable of protecting me for that long."

"Not at all." I didn't even need to think about how I was going to respond. Between random pink-haired fire mages and dark mages, I needed Fran's help for the time being.

I heard rumbling in the train behind us, signaling that the fighting was still going on in the vehicle.

"Let's head to the nearby woods, from there we can head to the next proper town..." Fran stated before I even had time to respond, she was already running to the nearby brush. I quickly followed after her leaving the train behind for the time being.

Once we got a reasonable distance away, I placed my hand on my head. "What do you think those guys even wanted to do with Lullaby?" I asked, looking at the flute.

"Does it matter now?" Fran replied, tossing me the flute. "It's ours now, that's all that matters." She then crawled up a nearby tree as if surveying her surroundings.

"Is anyone following us?" I asked, prompting Fran to shake her head. She crawled down the tree like a spider before landing elegantly.

I scanned her form, her shoulders, and her skirt. "How do you move around so easily in that?"

"Hmm?"

"Your clothing isn't suited for this sort of thing at all." I pointed out. It wasn't like she was wearing a summer dress or anything. The fact she did all those flips so effortlessly while wearing such a thing was impressive.

Fran just pressed her finger to her lips and smiled. "It's clearly because of my vampire power!"

"That's a lie! Being a vampire should have nothing to do with moving well with certain clothing." I pointed to the young looking vampire causing her to huff.

"You'd be surprised, in my adult form I wear high-heels and even longer skirt into battle!" Fran wagged her finger. "I have to keep up the vampire aesthetic no matter what."

I wondered what exactly that aesthetic was, but decided to drop the entire subject. "How long do you think it will take us to reach the next town?"

Fran crossed her arms, swaying her body back and forth. "Ah, since we are two stations away, it should only take us about thirty minutes if we run at full speed non-stop."

I kept forgetting about the speed difference. I suppose there wasn't really a need for a magical vehicle if I could run faster than one and never grow tired.

"Alright, we head to Oshibana town, from there you can devour this thing." I lifted Lullaby. A part of me wondered if the flute could hear us speaking about it. Fran did say it was alive, but I didn't hear a heartbeat or any signs of life.

"Before we go, I'd like to take one extra precaution," Fran said, she then lifted her hand, opening her mouth. She then suddenly shoved her hand down her throat, forcing me to wince.

"W-what are you doing?!" The unnatural way her throat was shifting due to her arm unsettled me in a way I couldn't possibly describe. After a few seconds, she pulled out a large thin piece of paper.

It was utterly black like someone had spilled ink on an envelope. "I only have two of these," Fran said, attempting to hand me the saliva covered slip.

"Yeah...I'm not touching that." It was a strange line to draw considering I just ate a horse's entrails not too long ago, but if I wanted to maintain Fran's cute image, then I needed to avoid touching anything that may have potentially had her stomach acid on it. "What is it anyway?"

"It's a sealing tag," Fran stated. "I took it from one of the last healing mage's I killed around 150 years ago. I kept it around as a trophy along with her staff, but it might come in handy."

The casual nature of Fran's words nearly made me do a double take. I suppose she would have had to kill plenty of people during her lifetime, some of which probably didn't deserve it.

"That's a rather unsightly expression, did you think of something unpleasant?" Fran asked, jumping onto my shoulders.

"No, nothing, let's just get to the next town."

Instead of running non-stop towards Oshibana town, we decided to pace ourselves. Less due to physical stain and more so, we wouldn't draw attention to ourselves.

I had no idea why Fran even wanted to head to Oshibana town. We had Lullaby, and we knew for a fact that Eisenwald was headed to that specific town. Anywhere but there seemed like a better choice, but I wasn't going to argue with a 200-year-old vampire.

I trusted her choice up to that point, might as well continue.

We reached the town proper as my eyes quickly scanned our surroundings. The buildings were of a decent size, but they were close together, meaning there were plenty of alleyways and cracks for someone to slip through.

"The train hasn't arrived at the station yet. I suppose that makes sense considering it had another stop before it got here," I said, looking around the town.

"Ah, I wonder if they sell Sauerbraten here? I haven't tasted that in a while." Fran tugged on my hair as she gazed into the sky with an almost longing look.

I couldn't help but wonder what the hell Sauerbraten was, but I held back my curiosity for the time being. "Speaking of food, when are you going to shove this flute into your mouth?"

"It depends, I'd prefer to have a proper date first..." Fran sighed, pressing her elbows against the top of my skull.

"That's not what I meant!"

Fran giggled. "I know, and to answer your question, I still do not feel safe enough to devour him yet. Just because we're safe right now doesn't mean we'll be safe in twenty minutes."

I was wondering if she was coming up with excuses not to devour the demon. Then again, that didn't make sense. We were here for her. The only person that she'd be hurting was herself.

"Also, by the way, the man from earlier was from Fairy Tail, I believe," Fran added, her long black hair waving in the breeze.

"Fairy Tail?" I heard them before, mostly from my older brother that would always complain about the destruction and mayhem they would cause. "Wait, do you think they are after Lullaby too?"

"Perhaps, but that's not why I brought it up..." Fran countered. "I've only ever interacted with one Fairy Tail member in my life, and that boy reminded me of something I gave her long ago."

"Is it another demon?" I raised my brow.

"No, but if we get a hold of it, it will make our quest far easier." Fran tapped her lip. "Now, we should find a place to stay..."

I didn't like it, just something about how Fran was acting was putting me on edge. Like she had a plan, she wasn't telling me, which could only mean one of two things. It was a plan that would be ruined if I knew or a plan one that I wouldn't ever agree with.

Either way, we made our way to a top of a nearby building, making sure to stay out of sight of nearby onlookers and travelers. Fran kept an eye on the station while I continued to look at the ominous flute.

I looked at it before I felt something tingle in my brain. It was strange like something was trying to evade my mind, but couldn't get past my thick skull.

"Huh, it's trying to possess you," Fran stated like she was talking about a cat that was brushing up against its owner.

"D-don't say that like it's not a big deal!" I snapped. I was fully prepared to chuck the flute somewhere and be done with the whole mess.

"You have nothing to worry about," Fran waved her hand. "Such a cheap trick won't work on a vampire, even as one as incompetent as you. Though it does mean that it's gaining its sense of self back, we most likely don't have long until it's fully awakened."

I swallowed harshly, wondering if I wanted to know the answer to the question I was about to ask. "How long until it's fully awakened?"

"Due to our influence, I'd say...about two hours, give or take."

"... That's too soon," the stoic tone of my voice was there to mask my complete horror of the situation. Something that I couldn't keep up. "That's too soon, Fran!"

Fran flinched for the first time. "No need to be so dire, I'll devour it before it has a chance to do such a thing. Even if it does awaken, we have the tag to prevent it from causing too much damage."

"That's not good enough," I quickly shot back. "Just eat it right now!" I nearly tackled Fran forcing open her mouth.

"W-What are you doing?! Unhand bleg-" I didn't let her finish her sentence. I forced the skulled head between her teeth, desperately trying to get her to bite down on it.

My attempts to gag Fran with the flute were stopped with a sudden train whistle. I looked over to the station, noticing a large cloud of smoke coming from the steam engine.

Fran and I lowered our bodies. It was far too soon for us to be noticed, even more so when I saw the mass of dark-guild mages starting to pour into the station.

"It looks like they are setting their plan into motion...whatever it is," Fran said, a slight frown creeping onto her face.

"Fran..." I paused, narrowing my eyes. "What is the real reason you want to hold off on eating Lullaby?"

Fran didn't respond. Instead, she opted to return my gaze with her own. Sadly, before I got a proper answer, I felt Lullaby starting to shiver between my fingertips.

"Huh?" In an instant, a strange wave echoed from the flute. I looked at the demon. A soft purple light came from its eyes and mouth.

"Lullaby can take the souls of those who hear its song," Fran said, "but this seems different. This doesn't seem like a killing curse, but rather..."

"Did you guys here that?" I heard one of the many dark mages scream from the streets below.

"Y-yeah, there's no doubt about it. That had to be Lullaby!"

I winced, "Fran, what did it do?"

"It must have exerted a bit of it's magic to attract any nearby mages. It sent an S.O.S to put it into simple terms."

"Damn it all..." I sat up, noticing all the eyes that were no honing in on Fran and me. There was no way we could stay in the same location.

Fran had already started to move across the rooftop, jumping from the wooden structure to the next with ease.

"H-hold on, wait for me!" I snapped sloppily trying to copy each of Fran's movements. I was able to keep up with her at least a little bit, but I had no idea where we were going. We're we heading out of the city again or trying to find a new hiding spot.

Either way, there was no possible way that anyone would catch up with us. At least that is what I thought until I felt something harsh struck my back, like a whip.

I winched, my body twisting in the air. I quickly corrected myself clinging to a nearby building with the tips of my finger. I noticed Fran above me looking down while another figure appeared clinging to the adjacent building.

"So, you're the bastards that took down Kagayama...you know we had to toss him out of the train because of what you did to him." The man spoke a certain amount of venom leaking out of each of his words.

He was wearing an odd combination of black and yellow, along with that black ropes were extending from the tips of his fingers wrapping themselves around the corner of the building.

"You're with Eisenwald...aren't you." It was clear, so much so I didn't even phrase my statement as a question.

"That goes without saying, and you must be the two that snatched Lullaby." The man took a deep breath before grinning. "You know, we're supposed to kill anyone who gets in our way, right?"

Just my luck, at the very least it seemed that he went ahead of his teammates, meaning he was alone. If both me and Fran fought him together, he'd be defeated in an instant.

" Armel, pass me Lullaby, and we can start fighting properly," Fran said, it seemed that she had the same idea. I didn't even hesitate to toss Fran the flute causing the oddly dressed man to grit his teeth.

"Thank you...master," Fran said in a whisper. Then in an instant, she took off, not even sparing a glance. At first, I thought she was playing a joke on me for a few seconds.

"H-hey Fran, where are you going!" I shouted.

"You little shit, I won't let you escape!" The man lifted his bands, preparing to follow Fran.

I gritted my teeth, lifting my palm. In an instant, I fired a Dark Cross towards my enemies direction. Sadly my foe dodged the attack as it left an imprint on the ground below.

"So you want to fight me, huh?" The man eyes narrowed while I swallowed harshly.

I didn't know what Fran was planning, but I doubted she would abandon me for something like Lullaby. For the time being, I'd have to put my trust and her and take out the enemy in front of me.

"I suppose you wouldn't be willing just to give up and walk away..." I laughed nervously, almost as if giving his response, the main lifted his whips, sending them towards my direction.

I shattered the wooden wall I was clinging to forcing me to crawl up the side of the building. Getting into my first fight was going to happen sooner or later, the only thing I could do was take what Fran had taught me and apply it.

**Author note**

**This chapter went through some rewrites. Originally it was supposed to cut to Natsu and the others, but I felt like that lessened Armel's story in a sense. I want this mostly be through his perspective unless specific flashback chapters.**

**There were also tweaks to how Fran and him made it to the station.**

**I wanted to play with Lullaby for a bit, the idea that the flute being around Armel and Fran making it awaken faster was so that I could give the arc a quicker pace.**

**I wanted to make changes to the arc. It'd be boring if it just played out the same way in canon. **

**Also, the next chapter is Armel's first real battle, which I'm excited to write.**

**I always feel like I could make my chapters a little longer, like maybe an extra 1000 words or something. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**The Flute of Death.**

I swallowed harshly avoiding another blow from my enemy. I continued to move across the rooftops, the mage quickly following me.

"Is the only thing you can do is run away?!" The man screamed as his long bands jolted towards me. I, on the other hand, skidded to a hold knocking the shingles out of their place.

I grabbed some of the loose chunks of the roof before opening my palm. "Dark Cross!" I fired another cross as the man swayed his body hooking his black-bands on a nearby building and yanking himself towards it.

"Haha, you idio-" He didn't finish his statement as he was pelted with one of the shingles I picked up.

I didn't know how hard I threw it, but with how his head jolted back, it must have been pretty hard. The man slowly started to fall over the side of the building, causing me to relax a bit.

"I wonder if that was enough to knock him out..." I sighed, jumping to the next building. I didn't have time to worry about it, either way.

I continued to make my way around the rooftops, looking around for Fran. That was until I felt something wrap around my leg; in an instant, I was yanked off the roof towards the ground.

"S-shit!" I hit the corner of the building, breaking the structure slightly. I attempted to grab the side of the building, but that only caused me to drag down, like a cat slowly cutting up a curtain.

Once I hit the ground, I turned to face my attacker. Besides the large lump on his head forehead, he didn't seem worse for wear.

"Do you think I'll let you keep embarrassing me!" The furry in his voice told me he was pissed.

"If you're getting this upset maybe you should just find the rest of your guild, and ask them to help," I said, mostly trying to use the tactic to get him off of my back.

If I had just a few seconds, I could get out of his range and find Fran. Though even if I managed to do that I had a feeling, he'd hound me until he got his hands on Lullaby.

"How stupid do you think I am?!" The man growled. "Besides, if I can't take care of a punk like you, then I won't be able to show my face ever again!"

I twitched his fingers as his bands made their way towards me. I couldn't let the fight drag on any longer. I jumped to my feet, avoiding the encroaching vines.

At the very least we were now on the street instead of the buildings, making planning my next action far easier. Even if he was a mage, I was still a vampire.

I dug my foot into the cement. I closed the distance between my opponent and me near instantly.

"Huh?" That was the last thing he said as I hooked my foot around his leg, causing him to lose balance, I then slammed my open palm into his face forcing his entire body into the cement.

It, unfortunately, used a little bit more force than intended as the ground cracked the moment his body hit it. Not only that, but it bounced slightly almost like his body was rubber.

My heart sank when he finally landed adequately. I inched my way towards him. His eyes were completely white. I placed my hand against his chest before letting out a sigh of relief.

"I just knocked him out I guess..." I had a feeling that if I had used a fist instead of my palm, he'd probably have a hole in his skull. Regardless, my enemy had been defeated. I hurridly clung to a nearby building crawling back to the roof.

I scanned the streets, noticing the waves of Eisenwald members searching the roads. "I guess they took care of all of the authorities..." I groaned.

This entire situation was a mess, even more so now that Fran had jumped off. While I was tempted to search for her, I knew looking around the streets was asking for trouble.

I gritted my teeth, hoping for something to point me in the proper direction. That was until I felt a familiar shiver run down my spine, the same shiver that occurred when Lullaby sent its SOS.

"Ah..." My eyes dilated for a second, causing my gaze to fall back towards the station in the center of town. There wasn't a single doubt in my mind. Lullaby was at the station.

"I-is this some kind of joke?" I said to myself. We were trying to avoid Eisenwald, why would Fran go to a place which was acting as their makeshift hideout. There were only two conclusions that I could come up with, neither of them being something I wanted to think about.

Against my better judgment, I made my way towards the station. I opted not to jump from building to building, instead crawling up and down the sides between the alleyways of the structures. It felt somewhat strange, but I could at least understand why Fran liked to do so.

When I got close to the station, I noticed most of the Eisenwald members returning, most likely due to recent SOS Lullaby had sent throughout the city.

I scanned the station proper, thinking of ways to enter without being seen. "Damn it, I've barely been a vampire for a week, and I'm already doing dangerous stuff like this..."

The station wasn't close to any building. Even if I jumped there from one of the roofs, I'd be spotted for sure. That wasn't even taking into account I had no idea what I would do once I was inside.

If only I had some distraction, like an animal or tiger randomly appearing. Of course, I knew that wasn't going to happen, something like that falling conveniently in my lap was far too ridiculous.

Just when I was about to stand up and force my way through I heard the screeching fo a vehicle. I lowered my body once again looking at someone driving towards the front of the building.

The first thing I noticed was the red-haired woman in armor sitting in front. She was followed by a blonde sticking her head out of the passenger seat. Once the vehicle stopped, the remaining members of the mysterious group exited the vehicle.

I counted a black man in a nice coat, a blue cat creature, and a familiar pink-haired teen with a scarf, along with a strange blue cat creature. What I didn't expect to see was Eisenwald member that Fran had pierced with her eyes stumbling out.

He was bandaged up. At first, I was a bit relieved that the man survived until I realized something.

If he was with the Fairy Tail mages, then there was a pretty good chance that they knew that Fran and I had Lullaby. Meaning I couldn't play dumb if they confronted me about that fact.

I felt my chest tightening. The next few seconds would determine how I would handle the situation.

The Eisenwald members all stopped to stare at the party. It took less than a second for a short struggle to suddenly break out. I was honestly pretty surprised how quickly they started punching people.

"I guess now's my chance!" I steeled myself slowly walking back from the edge. I then sprinted with all might and lept off the roof. I planned to soar through silently, having no one below me be none the wiser. Unfortunately for me, I underestimated my strength. I planned to jump onto the wall and crawl into the window, but I significantly overshot it. Instead, I went headfirst into the top of the station.

Not only that, but the amount of force caused me to bounce off landing directly next to the area where the two guilds were fighting. If that wasn't enough, a large chunk of the building land next to me, nearly crushing my legs.

So, while I lied there looking up towards the sun that no longer reflected off of my body correctly, I could feel the peering eyes of both guilds on my body.

I sat up, looking around. I felt the need to say something, anything. "Yo..." There was a lot of things I could have said, and that was not one of them.

"That's the guy! That's the guy that was with the girl that took Lullaby!" The bandaged up Eisenwald member pointed to me, forcing me to grit my teeth.

I didn't even need to think about it. I jumped off of the ground, hearing multiple voices telling me to wait or calling me some rather crude names.

I ignored all of them crawling into the second-floor window. I knew most of them wouldn't be able to follow me right away, but it still wasn't a good spot to be in.

"I need to find Fran right now..." I whispered to myself. It didn't seem like anyone was on the second floor. "Damn it, where are you?"

I slowly crept through the building, sliding into a nearby room. There were plenty of boxes and hiding spots in the area, and while it wasn't my most prideful moment, I opted to sneak into the closet.

I didn't even take the time out to look around before lifting my hand trying to find the wall of the cramped space, strangely the moment I moved, I felt like I touched someone's face.

"Blegh..." I heard a familiar voice which prompted me to look down. No doubt about it, the black hair and red eyes could only belong to Fran.

"W-what are you doing here?" A mixture of both relief and anger escaped my throat.

"Hmm? Little girls hiding in closets when they're scared a natural reaction, the strange one is a man doing the same thing..." Fran threw an insult out like it was our usual interactions.

"In a situation like this, anyone would hide, even a bear!" I countered, raising my voice. "That's not even the point, why did you leave me behind like that?!"

"I'd figure you would handle it, besides. If I stayed with you, the entire guild would be bearing down on us. By splitting up, I was able to lure them to the building..."

I frowned, I frowned so hard I could feel my lips about to fall off my face. "Well, they're here, now what?" As far as I knew it didn't make a difference where they gathered, the fact that they were gathering on top of us in the first place was the issue.

"I'll be able to kill them all..." Fran said, her hands slowly revealing Lullaby. Just like that, the conversation took a rather unsettling turn.

I figured that the only reason Fran would be at the station was that she either got captured or she was planning on using the demon flute herself.

"Is that some joke? We can't use that here..."

Fran tilted her head. "Why? In its current state, the range of the flute would only go about as far as the building. Chances are there aren't any civilians in the station, and if all the members of Eisenwald are here then there isn't a reason for us not to play it."

"That's why you didn't eat it right away..." My eyes narrowed. "I guess the whole feeling safe bit was a lie?"

Fran shook her head. "Not at all, I will feel safe once they are all dead." The bluntness of her words put the whole situation in perspective. My mind tried to come up with a better solution than the one presented, but I couldn't think of one.

Just saying that it'd be wrong would be cheap, these people were trying to kill us. The most logical thing to do was play the song, but then I remembered something, something important.

"Wait, we can't play that...the Fairy Tail mages are here." Even if they were after us, they are a legal guild, kill them for doing their job wouldn't feel right.

"Armel...isn't that just an excuse?"

Her words were like a dagger into my heart. Or maybe closer to a broom handle considering we were stuck in a cramped closet.

"If you don't want to play the flute, then don't play it. Don't try to come up with reasons to sound logical and save face. It just makes you look like a fool."

I mean, I couldn't argue with her there. "A-alright, I'm just doing this to make myself feel better, are you happy?" I poked the short vampire's forehead causing her to puff-up her cheeks.

"Naivety like that is the worse. You're a vampire now, applying the same morals and thought process from when you're a human doesn't make sense."

"I've been a human for eighteen years of my life. It's not like I can forget that stuff..." I shifted my body a bit, peeking through the small crack under the door. I knew it was a pointless gesture, Fran probably would have heard anyone coming, but I didn't feel like standing around doing nothing.

Fran pressed her fingers to her head, shaking it like a teacher shaking their head at one of their students. "You are still thinking of things as black and white when you should be viewing them as blue and orange."

The vampire had utterly lost me at that point. "What do colors have to do with anything?"

Fran waved her hands, "please dismiss my statement. I had forgotten who I was talking to for a moment." Another insult, I needed to think of a good comeback or I would be known as the bottom in this relationship.

"Okay, I get it, what should we do Lady Wimpffen?" The moment I referred to her as that a mixture of disgust and confusion overtook her face, just the kind of reaction I wanted.

"Don't call me that..." Fran closed her eyes. "And to answer your question, I do not know. I was planning on killing everyone, but since you're against it, you're going to have to think of the alternative."

Once again, fair. "Alright then, we should jump out of the nearest window and run as far away as possible." When I stated outright it wasn't much of a plan, hell it was barely a coherent thought.

Fran opened her mouth before stopping. I noticed her ears twitching like bad before she pressed them to the door. "Someone's coming..."

I froze, a strange sense of dread came over me. Which was odd, if both me and Fran were together, then there wasn't much of a reason for us to be afraid. Still, there was a certain anticipation when it came to fighting. Even if you knew you would win a fight, just being in a fight would make one grow uneasy.

"Bastard! Come out here! Do you think I'll just let you trick me like that?!"

"That voice..." It was the guy from the train no doubt. Out of all the people that could make it to the second floor, why did it have to be him?

Regardless there were dozens of rooms on the second floor. It would take him a while to find us unless something horrible happened.

Just as those thoughts ran through my head, Lullaby's eyes lit up. Once again, another SOS wave was sent throughout the entire building, if the pink-haired boy didn't know where we were before he did now.

"Damn we need to get out of this room now!" We'd be cornered if he decided to open the door. "Should we split up again?"

"No..." Fran quickly replied, opening the closet door allowing us to step outside. She then jumped on my back, wrapping her arms around my neck. "Even though you're a vampire, you still are rather pathetic. I have a feeling you'll need a handicap, and I'll be that for you."

With those words, I steeled myself and entered back into the hallway proper. The moment I did, I could only see destruction, holes upon craters littered the floor and ceiling. I was a bit surprised that someone would wreck everything in their path with such little care.

"Hey, there you are!" I heard a voice call out to me. Both I and Fran turned our heads to be greeted with the pink-haired boy from before. "You guys must be the ones that have your hands on Lullaby...do you know Erza did to me when she found out I let you two go?!" He shivered as if blaming us for his misfortune.

I had no idea who he was talking about, but perhaps that was a hint that I could find an alternative way out of the situation.

"I...supose you wouldn't believe me if I said I didn't want to use Lullaby." Considering he didn't know the context of the situation he'd probably dismiss us.

The pink-haired mage scoffed. "Don't try talking your way out of this one. If you want to explain yourself, do it after I knock you out!"

I felt the need to explain how that would be impossible, but it'd probably be a waste of time. I looked past him, noticing the window at the end of the hall, which meant there was most likely one behind me as well.

"Oh, I should tell you this now Armel, but we only got around forty-five minutes before Lullaby awakens," Fran whispered in my ear forcing me to shiver.

Out of all the things we talked about in the closet, that was probably the most important one.

If that was the case, then fighting was stupid. I needed to get to a safe spot as soon as possible so Fran could devourer Lullaby, or at the very least use the sealing tag on him.

"...Later!" I lifted my hand, pivoting my foot. I didn't even need to think about it as I ran towards the window.

"Stop running away!" I heard the teen screech. Then suddenly the lighting in the room turned orange.

"Hurry up and jump out the window!" I heard Fran's voice raise before hearing something else.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

The moment I heard that cry, I felt the flames nipping at my feet. I burst through the window clinging to the side of the station while a burst of fire past above me. I then jumped to the top of the station once again, taking note of Fran's burnt skirt.

"You're getting me a new dress after this..."

"I don't think that's important right now!" I quickly snapped. "Anyway, the only thing we have to do is just run from here..." I took a single step forward before noticing the roof underneath my feet, starting to crack.

The scarfed teen then rocked out of the floor below, landing on the roof as well. "Do you think I'd just let you get away like that?"

I went pale. "I-isn't that a bit much? Can't you at least try to be subtle?" Truthfully, he'd probably have a better chance at catching us if he at least tried to use some tactics.

"Armel... could you please move your head slightly to the left?" Fran whispered into my ear once again, this time, her limbs tightening around me.

I decided to do just that, then suddenly I noticed a slit starting to appear in her eyes. She was going to fire the pressurized beams or whatever she called them.

I couldn't even attempt to stop her before the bean flew out. The teen moved his body the beam just scrapping by his cheek and piercing at least three buildings.

"Tsk, I missed." Blood leaked out of Fran's eyes. "It seems there are too many variables at the moment for me to hit him."

"So...are you ready to fight properly o-"

I didn't even let him finish his statement before I jumped to the next rooftop.

"Don't just ignore me!" He screamed, running to the edge of the station roof.

There was no way he could catch up to us if it's running away. I was positive I was superior to any other lifeform in the world. Even more so since I became a vampire. I looked back to see his pink-hair vanishing in the distance.

Lullaby was still in my hands, and Fran was still hanging off of me. With some luck, the Fairy Tail mages handled the rest of the dark-mages.

"Do you think we're home free?" I asked, not daring to look back.

"I...wouldn't count on it," Fran replied after she said that I heard two screams. One sounded like the pink-haired teen while the other was a completely new voice.

I turned my head to see an odd sight. The boy was being carried by the small cat-like creature from earlier. Somehow the animal managed to sprout wings and keep pace with us.

Damn, even if they would never catch us, we couldn't run away forever. That was until I was reminded of one of the weaker spells Fran had thought me.

I turned my body to face the duo running backward. I didn't know the exact range of the spell, but I did know it required eye contact.

"Armel what are you doing?" Fran tugged on my hair, but I ignored her for the moment.

I locked eyes with the blue cat. "Why don't you...crash into a wall."

The moment I said that the blue cat's body stiffened. "Aye, sir!"

"Eh? Happy what are yo-" Just like that both the pink-haired teen and the cat flew headfirst into a nearby building.

I turned back around, jumping to the next rooftop. "That should keep them off our tracks for a while..."

"Direct charm..." Fran whispered under her breath. "I never thought you'd remember such a spell."

I shrugged. "The cat looked weak enough for it to work, so I tried it. Either way, I think we're home fre-" I was cut off when a gust of wind tore through the roof we were standing on sending both Fran and me into the streets below.

We quickly recovered before our gaze went towards the sky. Standing above us was a silver-haired man, floating in the air carrying a large scythe like some god of death.

"So...you're the two that made me come all the way down here."

**Author note**

**This chapter man, a lot of action in this chapter. I wanted to play with locations, and I felt like rooftops would be an exciting way to change the action up.**

**I wanted to show Fran's and Armel's differing mindsets of the situation. With Fran willing to kill everyone in the station not to worry about anything and Armel wanting to find a less...murderous route.**

**I didn't want to present one character as right or wrong, just two people, or vampires who view the world differently because of their experiences. **

**The next chapter will probably be the conclusion of this arc. Since I wanted to make sure it took place all in Oshibana town, just to change up the arc compared to ending like usual in Clovertown. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Pride as a Vampire**

Both I and Fran gazed up at the strange-looking man. The fact that he was so casually floating in the air didn't bode well for anyone beneath him.

"You worms! Do you know how much time we wasted!" The silver-haired man snapped. I scanned his figure taking note of the Eisenwald that was on his body. Was this guy their boss?

Regardless, I didn't even know what to say at that point. Despite all our efforts, it seemed the universe genuinely didn't want us to have the damned flute.

"Nothing to say? Fine then, die!" The silver-haired man lifted his hand as a strange feeling arose in the depths of my stomach.

"Move!" Fran cried, her grip around my neck, tightening. I didn't need to be told a second time. I placed all of my weight on my front foot and jumped back. At that moment, I felt something trying to suck me in as my hair blew about.

The sky grayed as both me and Fran were flung in a random direction. I couldn't even comprehend what was happening. It was like we were caught in some vortex of wind.

In an instant, we were sent flying towards a random building, crashing through multiple walls and structures. It hurt, even if I was a vampire, I couldn't ignore the pain.

After what felt like an eternity, we landed in what seemed like a random kitchen. My mind was jumbled, but despite all of that, my hand was firmly gripping Lullaby. I was going through all the pain to get this thing.

No, I was going through it for Fran. If she needed it, I would do it...of course, I wasn't going to say that out loud.

"Are you okay?" I asked, knocking off a random pot off my head. My gaze shifted over to the small black-haired vampire only for my stomach to twitch.

It seemed that Fran was a bit unlucky where she landed since there was a giant steak knife sticking out of her stomach. It appeared the blade impaled Fran, going straight through her back and out the front.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Fran sighed, "though my dress is ruined." She then did something odd, instead of reaching around her back and removing the knife from the handle she grabbed the blade and yanked it through her body handle in all.

Blood sprayed from her body while few her intestines flopped out. She then pushed them back into her body, like someone pushing noddles that have spilled out the side back onto a plate.

I expected them to spill back out, but her wound had already healed. She then hopped back up, the only sign that she had taken any damaged was her bloodied and torn dress. "Despite his power, our new foe doesn't seem to be that bright."

"W-what do you mean?" I shook my head, trying my best to remove the image of Fran's guts hanging out.

Fran just scoffed. "He knocked us around without even taking into account where we would land. He probably thought that would be enough to knock us out which he'd then be able to search for us at his own pace..."

Fran then opened the nearby window peeking out of it. "To put it bluntly, because of his attack he doesn't know where we are..."

I was reassured until I remembered the horrible creature that I was still holding. It was only a matter of time before it sent out another cry, and even ignoring that it seemed like it was growing in my hand.

Fran jumped out of the window, causing me to follow. I glanced from the alley back to the street. We were flung a lot further than I had expected.

"I guess just leaving is out of the question if he can fly..." I said.

"Armel, we need to hurry up, Lullaby is nearing its limit. If we don't take care of it soon, we'll have a bigger problem than just two guilds chasing us..."

"Oy! Don't say that!" I snapped. "You can eat this thing right now if you wanted."

Fran's cheeks puffed before she crossed her arms. "I refuse, eating it now would be a death sentence. Perhaps if you showed a bit more resolve earlier, we wouldn't be in this situation."

I bit my bottom lip, giving the little vampire a sideward glance. "You should have picked something easier to start with!"

"How was I supposed to know that Lullaby was popular?" Fran countered back. "He isn't cute at all, and he's weak, I don't know why a bunch of humans would even be after him!"

It seemed that despite Fran's age, she could be just as childish as me. Though considering my own age, the way I was acting wasn't very flattering either.

"Finally found the two of you!" I heard someone shout from above. I quickly looked up to see a fireball landing from the roof. From the flames, a familiar pink-haired teen appeared, his face twisted in anger.

"Why do you keep showing up?" I groaned. Despite the cliche response, I had hoped to have gotten him off of my back for the time being.

"I'm going to pay the two of you back for tricking me and knocking Happy out!" The teen pounded his fist against his hand, a soft flame erupting from his knuckles.

I gritted my teeth. Just when I thought the situation couldn't have gotten worse, I noticed a shadow looming over the three of us. I turned my head to see the scythe-wielding man standing over the side of the building.

"So, you were working with a legal guild..." The white-haired man growled.

"You...you must be that Erigor guy that Erza was talking about!" The pink-haired teen replied.

I, on the other hand, was trying to find my way out of this dead end. I pressed my fingers against the wall behind me, weighing if it was worth it to jump back into the building. It seemed that Fran was thinking the same thing; at that point, the situation was taking far too long.

The moment I even attempted to move both of my enemies glared at me.

"Armel, this is a dead-end, if you want to escape you'll have to do it over their dead bodies." Fran was blunt, but she was right. Now was not the time to be thinking about killing or not killing. I didn't care about what happened to my body personally, but I did promise Fran, so I couldn't die until she got back to normal.

I handed Fran Lullaby before she placed the item between her teeth. At least now I was able to fight with both of my hands, not that I thought it'd make much of a difference.

I wasn't so shortsighted to believe I was on the same caliber when it came to magic as my two enemies, but there was one thing I knew without a doubt I was superior in, and that was sheer brute strength and speed.

So, while it wasn't something I wanted to do. I'd act like the vampire that I am.

My first target would be the one closest to me. My eyes shifted to the pink-haired teen as he returned my gaze. It seemed he knew I was going to target him.

I reeled my fist back. There was no need for anything elegant. As long as my blows landed, things such as form and grace could be left in the trash.

I closed the distance in a blink of an eye, Fran holding onto me the best she could. I aimed to slam my fist against my foe, and it seemed even he was alarmed at my speed.

The pink-haired teen jumped out of the way, at least that he attempted to, but he barely got his foot off the ground before I snatched his ankle out of the sky.

"W-what?"

I hadn't forgotten the enemy above me either, so with all my might I chucked the teen towards the man named Erigor still porched on the building above.

It seemed he didn't expect such a sudden violent outburst as he jumped from his resting spot, the pink-haired mage going straight through the corner of the structure.

"D-damn fr-" Erigor didn't finish his statement. I quickly kicked off the two buildings, reaching him in the sky. I then shoved my heel into his shoulder, forcing him to the ground like a bird that had been shot through the wing.

He handed with a crash while I gripped a nearby building jumping to the top. That wasn't how humans fought. It certainly wasn't how mages usually conducted battle, at least that is what I could gather.

"Was that enough to knock one of them out?" I peeked over the side, only to see a sudden burst of flames and wind.

"Damn it!" I heard the teen scream as a pillar of fire erupted from the street below. "I don't care anymore. I'll take you both down in an instant!"

Just as he said that sharp blades of wind descended upon Fran and me cutting through the roof, somehow managed to avoid most of them without getting my limbs chopped off. I looked up to see Erigor floating above me.

His shoulder was bruised, nearly broken, and the genuine hatred I could feel coming from his gaze caused me to shiver. "I was avoiding using this for the sake of preserving Lullaby, but now... I'll-"

Erigor didn't finish his statement, instead having someone interrupt him with a foot to the face. I flinched as the scarf-wearing teen kicked off the wind mages body heading straight towards me.

I raised my fist preparing for an impact, that was until he took a deep breath. "Fire Dragon's Roar."

I was caught entirely off guard. I didn't expect someone to use a long-range attack while heading towards someone. I jumped off of the roof as his flames consuming it. I could feel my feet starting to burn before I made it to the next roof.

The moment I made it to the next building, it dawned on me how much we were wrecking the town. I hadn't seen any civilians, making me hope that everyone had been evacuated before this started.

The teen landed on the roof I was formerly standing on, apparently not minding the flames. My eyes then tracked over to Erigor, who was still floating, his anger finally reaching a boiling point.

"I see, I underestimated the two of you. I'll fix that..." Erigor lifted his weapon. The blade started to spin, a miniature tornado ripping the weapon apart, allowing it to wrap around its user. It was almost like he was wearing armor made out of the wind.

"This...is some bullshit," I grumbled to myself. Every time I thought I figured their magic, they just pulled something new out of nowhere. It wouldn't have been so frustrating if I didn't have to deal with it.

Not only that, but it seemed that the wind in the area as a whole had started to pick up, even going so far as blowing out the flames that the Fairy Tail mage.

"Just try to attack me like this, you flys!" Despite the heavy winds, I could still hear Erigor's voice. Either way, I had a feeling that it breaking through it wouldn't be easy. That was until Fran tapped the side of my head, as if telling me to move my skull over.

I decided to follow her instructions as a felt something pass by my ear. Two sharp beams instantly shattered Erigor's so-called impenetrable shield piercing him.

He hovered in the air for a second, the wind surrounding him slowly vanishing. Once it was gone, two large holes in his chest became visible.

Without saying another word, the dark-mage fell to the ground with a thud. Signaling to everyone that he was indeed out of the battle.

"Idiot, the moment you start bragging that you're invincible you have already lost," Fran chuckled, blood leaking from her closed eyes.

Was he alive or dead? At that point, it didn't matter. I turned my head over to the pink-haired teen. I was weighing if it was worth trying to escape.

"I suppose you won't let us leave even after all of that, huh?" I said, hoping that us taking out Erigor would have relieved him of some of his anger.

"I still got to pay you back for tricking me..." The pink-haired mage snapped, preparing to leap towards us, just when he was I heard a voice call out to him.

"Natsu!" My eyes feel towards the ground to see the rest of the Fairy Tail mages running towards our direction.

We took too long, we ate up all the time fighting the two of them, and now we were in an even worst situation than before! Would it even be possible to escape the four of them while carrying Lullaby and Fran?

"It looks like...we ran out of time," Fran let out a defeated sigh.

"Don't sigh like you just burnt your toast, this is a big deal!" I shouted. "There is no way we'd be able to flee with four mages going after us..." It was an impossibility. We had been lucky up to this point, but it seemed our luck had run out.

"Those humans aren't what you should be worried about..." Fran's ominous words were followed by her casually tossing Lullaby onto the street below.

"W-what are you doing Fran?" The flute we worked so hard to secure, the reason we were in this mess...and she tossed it like out like some trash.

"You don't get it do you, we were too slow, and now that demon will wake up..."

At that moment a large light escaped from the flute, the once blue sky darkened. Everyone fell silent. Even the noisy Fairy Tail mage just looked at the sky before a large wood-like arm jetted out from the street.

"Armel move!" Fran yanked my arm, dragging me away from the creature. The demon continued to grow while the two of us got a safe distance away from it.

We clung to a nearby building right when the creature finished its transformation. It towered over every structure in the town, making us look like ants by comparison.

"I-it's like a scene from those kaiju plays that I heard about!" My finger was shaking, probably not the most elegant comparison, but it was one that came to mind.

"Tsk, I easily would have been able to rip this creature apart if I had my full power, but then again I wouldn't even be here if that was the case..." Fran sighed while we climbed the building.

"W-what should we do?" I stuttered. I knew there was a chance this would happen, but I didn't think it would turn out this badly. Perhaps it was my naivety that led to this outcome, but I couldn't help but feel it was a bit unfair.

Fran slowly took out the thin slip of paper, scanning it, before scanning me. "Will you run away, or will you stay?"

Her words confused me; the bluntness of them nearly froze my blood. "W-what kind of question is that?"

"If you want to run away, there is no shame in it. This was probably a bit too much for you to handle..." Fran closed one of her eyes as Lullaby swatted buildings down like they were made out of paper.

That's right. Running away was a perfectly viable solution. Things were shot to hell. We encountered far more resistance than either of us had anticipated. There was no disgrace to be found if we left; in fact, it was probably something we should have done earlier.

"We..." The moment I was about to speak a noise stopped me. I looked over towards Lullaby, noticing a harsh flame hitting his face, followed by battle cries.

"Huh, those Fairy tail mages are fighting it, we can leave it to them without any guilt right?" Fran asked.

I just stared, they weren't even vampires, yet they were going to fight something like that. My eyes wandered to the destroyed buildings and streets, as guilt slowly crept into my body.

No matter how I sliced it, this was our fault, and as a result.

"Man! Talk about annoying..." I scratched my head. "Even though I want to run away, my pride as a vampire won't let me."

My words seemed to have struck a chord with Fran as the black-haired vampire raised her brow. "Pride as a vampire..."

"Yeah, it'd be pretty bad to let humans take care of a problem we created," I smiled standing up. "Besides, I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror if I did."

Fran let out a cackle. "You're a vampire. You couldn't even if you wanted to!"

I just chuckled at the comment. "Plus you worked way too hard to get us to this point. I don't mind wasting my time, but we can't let yours go to waste Fran!"

Fran rolled her eyes before jumping onto my back. "I'll reward your compliment later, right now I want you to show me your resolve..."

"Got it, you got that tag right? You know how to use it?" It was a dumb question in retrospects; of course, she would know how to use the tag she brought along.

"Get close to the demon and toss me towards his head. Once there, I place the seal on him, and he should revert to a flute once again!"

It was a simple plan, but one that would most likely work, we closed the distance between us and the beast. Once we got in range, I grabbed Fran's shoulders.

"Fran, are you ready?!" I asked.

"Of course I am young man! If I weren't, I would have told you so!"

That was all the confirmation that I needed. I twisted my body, twirling it like a top. I could feel the wind picking up around me before I tossed the black-haired vampire as hard as I could towards Lullaby's face.

I looked to the ground to see the Fairy Tail mages stop their assault, most likely wondering why a little girl was flying towards a demon.

Fran flipped in the air, landing directly onto Lullaby's forehead.

"Y-you, you are the one that was trying to devour me!" The demon stuttered. Despite the size difference, it seemed that Lullaby was far more afraid of Fran than the other way around.

"Yep..." That was the only thing Fran said as she placed the seal on the creature's forehead. The moment the piece of paper was stuck to the creature's skin, it froze in place like a statue.

At first, I thought that was the end of it until a harsh, blinding light consumed my vision and the vision of all those who were present. I shielded my eyes, when I did, I felt someone grab me dragging me along as if they were using that short window to escape.

By the time my vision had finally returned, we were already at the outskirts of town. I tried to blink, but it seemed that I still had a few seconds before I could see any color.

"Ah, talk about a close one..." I heard Fran's voice. "This should be enough distance between the Fairy Tail members and us, even more so if the extraction processes blinded them.

I blinked a few more times before my vision finally returned. I looked around. We were in a forested area, Oshibana town still in our view.

"I must have been blinded for at least three minutes..." I whined whipping my eyes.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you about that part." Fran laughed. "When we use the second tag, make sure your eyes."

She gave me a warning too far in advance. I'd probably forget by the time the situation arose.

"S-so, do you have Lullaby?" I asked, leaning my body against a nearby tree. My clothes were torn, and my mind was still racing, but besides that, I wasn't any worse for wear.

"Of course..." Fran showed me the nearly petrified demon flute. It was amazing. The sheer amount of work it took us to get to that point finally paid off. Due to the blinding light of the seal I doubted the Fairy Tail guild would be after us.

"Do you feel safe enough to eat it now?" I leaned my arm against my leg, giving Fran the sternest look that I could.

"D-do not look at me like that!" Fran frowned while she shifted her tattered dress. "It all worked out in the end, and to answer your question...yes I do feel safe enough."

It was a relief. We could finally put the entire situation behind us. "By the way, before you fall asleep Fran, how long do you think it will take you to get back to normal?"

Fran pressed her finger to her lips. "Hmm, at the rate we're going, about twenty years..."

I wanted her to repeat her statement so that I could be sure. "D-did you say twenty years?"

Fran eagerly nodded. "Yes, do not worry, though. If everything goes well at the next destination, we should be able to cut that time in half!"

"That's still ten years!" I snapped, pressing my finger against Fran's forehead. The vampire quickly swatted it away before smiling.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of commitment? Is that why you don't have any friends?" Fran's face twisted into an almost cruel expression causing me to slump my shoulders.

"Not at all, even if it took fifty years I'd still help you. Just don't act like it's not a big deal..." I shoved my hands into my pocket, examining Lullaby. "So, are you going to eat it soon?"

Fran let out a huff. "Rushing a meal is rather rude, but I suppose we have waited long enough."

Fran then lifted the flute. I expected her to take a bite out of it like a burger. Instead, she just shoved the entire instrument in her mouth. I couldn't help but gasp while Fran's cheeks stretched, she then pressed her hands her face crushing the flute with her fingers while it was still in her mouth.

She then started to chew, a strange crunching noise echoing through the forest. After a few bites, she stared at me, almost like she wanted to tell me to turn around.

"Okay, I get it..." I turned around while the chewing continued. After a few minutes, it finally stopped, prompting me to turn my head. "So when are you go-" I cut myself off noticing Fran lying face-first on the grass.

It seemed that the moment Fran finished eating, she fell asleep. "Y-you could have picked a more flattering way to fall asleep..." I held back a laugh before picking up the vampire.

I examined her like a life-sized doll. Her breathing had stopped, but it seemed that she was still alive somehow. Thinking about it, did vampires even need air? Considering the only way for us to die was either being decapitated, being out in the sun without the sun shield or having our heart shredded, I doubted it.

"She said she would sleep anywhere between two to twenty-four hours..." I groaned flinging her on my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Still, if she is willing to put herself in this state while I'm around, it must mean she trusts me..."

Regardless of all of that, we succeeded in what we set out to do. The only thing left was slink away before anyone noticed that we were there...

**Authors note.**

**Overall, what were your thoughts on the Lullaby arc for this story?**

**I liked writing this arc. Originally it was supposed to be far longer, but I realized spending that much time on the Lullaby arc probably wasn't the best idea XD.**

**The story structure in terms of arcs will be this.**

**Canon Arc**

**Mini Arc**

**Original Arc**

**Canon Arc**

**Etc mini-arcs are arcs that last 2-3 chapters that connect major arcs. Armel and Fran won't be in EVERY canon arc. Especially if the story doesn't require them there. Ergo, they probably won't be in the Tower of Heaven arc since that story is very personal to Erza and team Natsu that they would distract from it.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**A reason to Join.**

A deserted forest trail leading to a dead end. It was a sort of thing you'd read in an old horror book or fantasy novel. Despite that, Fran insisted on going there.

Speaking of Fran, she hadn't grown at all since eating Lullaby ...well according to her she grew two centimeters. Though it was impossible for me to tell, she certainly didn't feel any heavier on my shoulders.

"By the way, Fran, who is this friend of yours?" I asked, prompting Fran to tug on my hair.

"Asking that is pretty much asking to be spoiled on your favorite book," Fran said, pressing her elbows against the top of my head. "Though I will give you a hint, she is the ultimate hypocrite..."

"The ultimate hypocrite?" I repeated the phrase. It certainly wasn't the most flattering title to give to an old friend.

"Yes, yes, a human that hates human..." Fran let out an annoyed sigh reaching up for one of the branches breaking it off. "Hating your species is the very pinnacle of hypocrisy."

She wasn't wrong; people who say they hate other people usually just wanted to be vindicated. To put themselves above other people, while carrying an unearned sense of morality. At least that is why people assumed what was happening. I hadn't met Fran's friend yet.

"What about you? Do you hate humans?" I asked. Perhaps I was just curious since we weren't doing anything, but just walking in a random direction.

Fran hummed for a bit as if she was coming up with a good answer. "I can't hate humans. I love their food, their clothes, their books. To say that I hate them would be the same that I hate everything that they create."

I was starting to understand where Fran was coming from her statement. "I guess if your friend hated humans, she wouldn't be in a house or anything like that."

Fran puffed out her chest, seemingly proud that I was able to pick up on what she was getting at. "Yeah, she should just live in the forest like a dog or something."

Despite the jokes, there was a certain level of disdain and venom in her voice. Whoever her friend was I had a feeling they must have had a pretty bad falling out.

I pushed past the branched until we finally entered a large clearing. In the center was a giant tree with a door attached to it. It seemed that someone hollowed out a tree and set up a house in it.

Both me and Fran looked at the hollowed-out structure. "Tacky..." That was the only word that came out of my mouth.

"Really tacky..." Fran repeated the comment before she jumped off my shoulders, landing elegantly onto the ground.

It always amazed me how she managed to get new dresses when I wasn't looking. I knew she must have been using some magic, but every time I asked, she would laugh and say it was because she was a vampire.

Fran hurried up the steps as I followed. "Are you going to knock?" I asked.

"Of course, I'm going to knock!" Fran snapped. "What else do you do when you're in front of a locked door." Fran then lifted her hand, pressing her knuckle against the wooden frame.

However, instead of lightly tapping it, she hit it with enough force to fling the door off of its hinges and into the house proper. "Ooops, it seemed that I used too much of my strength~." Fran stuck out her tongue.

"Don't try to act like it was an accident!" I yelled, pointing to the small vampire. "You did that on purpose."

Fran opened her mouth to respond, but before she could her pointed ears twitched. She turned her attention to the entryway as someone slowly walked out.

An elderly woman with pink-hair carrying a broom walked out of the building. Her attire was odd, to say the least, a crimson cape with what seemed to be talons sprouting out of the collar.

"If you're here to steal something, it will be a waste of time on people like yo-" The woman cut herself off as her eyes shifted to Fran and me.

"Hey little Porlyusica," a sly smile appeared across Fran's face. "You looking a bit more...decrepit since I've last saw you."

The woman glared at the small vampire. "I heard you were killed thirty years ago, but I suppose I should have known better, there wasn't a body after all..."

Fran pressed her finger to her bottom lip. "You sound disappointed. Wishing for someone's death is a very human reaction, you know..."

"What do you want?"Porlyusica snapped. "I doubt you came all the way here to exchange pleasantries."

Fran groaned leaning against the door frame. "It's about the map that I helped create. I need it."

The pink-haired woman's eye twitched before her gaze finally fell to me. I stiffened, despite being human, the old lady had a certain eerie air about her.

"Who is he? Another one of your slaves?" I wasn't sure if Porlyusica question was an insult or not, but I decided to take it as one.

"Insulting someone you just met is childish, you know!" I quickly stated. It was something I expected from a teenager, not from a random old lady living in the woods.

Fran let out a loud hum. "You got it, wrong young lady. The situation is reversed now, the one acting as the servant is me..." Fran admitted it without a hint of shame or regret in her voice.

Porlyusica glared at me again. I noticed her eyes darting around my next and ears.

"...I don't have the map anymore," Porlyusica stated.

"You're lying," Fran closed one of her eyes. "I know you wouldn't just give that sort of thing away considering how dangerous it is."

Porlyusica gritted her teeth. Perhaps she realized she couldn't exactly say no with two vampires at her doorstep. While I wouldn't hurt an old lady, I knew for a fact Fran probably didn't feel the same way.

"Even if I do have the map, you won't be able to use it in its current condition...or have you forgotten the rule we created for it?" Porlyusica raised her brow, causing Fran to do the same.

"The...rule?" Fran pressed her finger to her lips. "No, I'll worry about that part later, right now I want the paper proper. I'm willing to make an exchange for it." Fran grinned.

"What could you possibly have to offer?" Porlyusica asked. Maybe she was calling Fran's bluff, or perhaps the pink-haired woman was interested in what Fran had.

"What about the Staff of Seven, one of the last magical items that are capable of using true healing magic!" Fran laughed, giving Porlyusica pause.

Porlyusica's eyes narrowed. "You...still have that?"

Fran grinned, it wasn't a simple grin either. It was a smile that couldn't possibly belong to a human. "You're thinking about it! Even though you say you hate humans, you still suffer from the same desires!"

Porlyusica grumbled. "Come in..." with those words, she entered her house, allowing me and Fran to follow.

The house itself was rather small. It couldn't have been larger than a room or two; most of the decorations and furniture were made of wood and branches.

"Went with the forest theme, huh?" Fran said, taking a seat on one of the stumps. I, on the other hand, decided to take a seat on the floor.

The whole thing was far too awkward for me. Like when a mother drags their child along to visit an old friend and they had nothing to do.

Porlyusica pushed a few books to the side before finally pulling out a raggedy piece of paper. It had a slight brown tinge to it like someone had dragged it through the sand a couple of times. It was hard to tell if the map was made like that, or if it was just that old.

"This is what you are looking for, correct?" The pink-haired woman glared at Fran who shrugged.

"Come now. You should treat your senior with a bit more respect than that. Plus you need to confirm if that is the real article, it'd be a shame if we came all the way here to be tricked."

"What about you?" Porlyusica countered. "I don't see the staff in your hands..."

"It's at my manor. I'll pick it up once you confirm this map is the real one." Fran tapped the table as if pointing to a spot where the woman could place the sheet of paper. "Unless, you a human, think I a vampire would lie."

Porlyusica grumbled placing the map on the table. She then opened it as a map of earthland appeared. If that were the end of it, the map wouldn't have been impressive, what made it special were the hundreds of small glowing dots placed across it.

"Ah, it's the real deal no doubt!" Fran chirped, causing me to finally speak up.

"Ah, Fran...if you don't mind me asking, what are we looking at?"

"Fran?" It seemed that the nickname that I had given her caught Porlyusica off-guard. I suppose from the outside, calling a 200-year-old vampire by such a cutesy name would throw anyone off.

"Those lights are demonic items," Fran pointed out, completely ignoring Porlyusica's inflection. "With this, we can locate them without the need to search."

That was what she meant when she said it would cut the time for our task in half. Having a map that guided us to the demons would undoubtedly help in the long run.

Fran then picked up the map, but when she did something strange happened. All the blimps vanished nearly instantly prompting the black-haired vampire to frown. "I suppose this is because of the condition, right?"

"You remember it...don't you?" Porlyusica asked. "The condition to use this map."

Fran gritted her teeth, pressing her palm against her forehead. "Ah, I was too short-sighted back then. I was so sure I would never need something as worthless as demons I allowed you to decide the condition..."

"What's the condition?" I asked. I figured that the map would only show the points if the person holding it met a specific criteria. At least that is what I assumed from how they were talking.

"It's most likely being a member of Fairy Tail," Fran replied, standing up. "If that is the case, then this conversation is over...we're leaving Armel."

"W-wait..." I stuttered. "That's pretty unlike you, to just give up like that." I pointed out. I thought she would have at least tried to get the condition removed from the map or something.

"I'm not giving up," Fran quickly replied. "I just realized what this little girl is trying to do."

Once again, Fran referred to the older woman as little girl. Something that I couldn't help but be a little conflicted about. "She wants us to join Fairy Tail so they'll keep an eye on us for her."

Porlyusica remained silent, not confirming or denying Fran's words. Perhaps she realized that if she didn't talk, we would leave sooner.

"Yeah, but maybe that's a fair trade-off..." I replied. "Besides, only one of us need to join, and if we don't like it, we can ditch them."

Unless they had some magical shackles that bound us to the guild, I didn't see the problem. Sure I didn't like it, but I also didn't want to spend an extra ten years searching for demonic items if I didn't have to.

"That's not the only issue," Fran said. "Have you forgotten what happened just last week? I'm pretty sure none of the members of the guild would want someone that attacked one of their members to join."

Fran had a point there, and in all honesty, I didn't want to join. At the same time, there was one thing I couldn't stand about the situation.

"Yeah, but I don't want you of all people to give up on a plan." I waved my arms around. "If it were for me, I'd give up in a heartbeat. I wouldn't even try, but since we're doing this for you, I want to at least put in a little bit more effort."

It was something I meant, from the bottom of my heart. I mean, I was the type of person that didn't want much. So it was easy for me to give up on ideas, among other things.

Fran twirled her finger through her hair, letting out an almost defeated sigh. "When you say it like that, I can't possibly try to stop you. Plus, with you being my master and all, I have no right to go against your word."

"Oy, don't say that sort of thing when it's convenient for you!" I pointed to the vampire. "There have been plenty of times where you ignored my suggestions!"

I could easily have counted three when we were chasing Lullaby, where she flat out told me no.

"It seems I may have a lapse in memory... I don't recall ever disobeying you my master~." The way she dragged on the word master forced me to slump my shoulders.

"So that will be our next move, right?" Even though I was the one that set it up, I still asked for confirmation.

"Yes, you'll head into town to take care of that, while I head back to my home and pick up a few things." Fran stood up, brushing her hair to the side. "Little girl, I'll return in three days. Then we can make the exchange."

"Very well," Porlyusica closed her eyes, allowing Fran to let out a noise that was almost a snort.

"I'm going to get some fresh air for a little bit, why don't you kids chat it up?" Fran stated, stretching like she was about to run a marathon. "Don't end up falling in love while I'm gone."

"Don't even make jokes about that!" I shouted. I liked older women, but I didn't want them that old.

Fran left the house, a part of me wanted to hurry up and follow her, but I had a feeling that the little vampire wanted to be alone. After all, she wouldn't have worded her statement so specifically if she wanted me to tag along.

Of course, this left me in a bad spot. Porlyusica was still glaring at me, a part of me hoped that she would shout and kick me out of the house. It certainly would be convenient, waiting alone in the woods would be better than being with a grumpy old lady.

"How did you even meet Francisca?" The pink-haired woman asked bluntly. I wanted to curse her for asking such an awkward question, but it was probably one she was the most interested in.

"Just by chance," I replied. "I guess it was just good luck that I met her..."

I didn't know what else to call it. I didn't go out looking for a vampire, yet I was able to meet one. The only thing you could call it was luck.

Though, the way that Porlyusica face twisted told me she didn't agree. "There must be more too that story, that vampire wouldn't just turn people randomly..."

I crossed my arms, wondering if I should tell Porlyusica the whole story. The truth of the matter was, the circumstances that brought Fran and me together, and the choice that turned me into a vampire was personal.

"Sorry, but you will have to ask Fran personally if you want to know," I said. I felt like it was an appropriate response given the context of the situation.

Porlyusica didn't respond right away, instead letting out a scoff. "You just became a vampire, correct? I'm sure you understand the weight you're now carrying."

I bit the inside of my cheek. "Fran already explained it to me. I know being a vampire is all fun and games."

"I'm back..." Before the conversation could continue, Fran poked her head through the doorframe. "Come on, Armel, let's go."

I stood up looking at the broken door that Fran and purposely wrecked. "Ah, sorry about your door," I felt the need to apologize despite not being the one that even destroyed it.

"Just leave..." Porlyusica stated, seemingly fed up with our presence. We did just that, leaving the treehouse and walking back into the woods like the vampires we were.

"Was she always thi-"

"Rude, bitchy, arrogant? The answer to all of those is yes." Fran said, not even taking care to make sure we were out of earshot.

"So, she's always been like this?" I asked as we returned to the trail. I had figured that people just got grumpier with age, but it seemed a bit different for Porlyusica.

"Yes, yes," Fran continued. "She always spouted some nonsense about being from another world, but I never really had the chance to check if she was telling the truth or not.

Another world? That sounded bizarre even for a vampire. Then again, I couldn't rule out the possibility considering the weirdness that was my life now.

"So, you're going to leave me for three days once we reach Magnolia town?" I asked that is where I assume we were going since that is where the Fairy Tail guild was.

"Yep, I'll need at least three days to travel back to my manor and pick up stuff like gold, and some legendary weapons I left behind..."

I slumped my shoulders. The money thing I didn't care about, it's not like we needed food or anything, but the weapon thing irked me. "You had something like that lying around, and you didn't bring it along?"

Something like that easily could have come in handy when fighting a group of dark mages or a demon flute that turned into a giant monster.

"Eh, I didn't want to drag them along. Besides, in my current state, they are unusable. I'm just bringing them along so I won't have to keep making trips back to my manor."

It weirdly made sense, but a statement confused me. "You're a vampire. I doubt any weapon is too heavy for you to lift."

The moment I said that Fran's eyes stuck to me, almost as if she was a moth staring into a light. "That's right; I never told you about how to create servants." She pressed her finger against her lips and smiled. "Once I devour another demon that will be the next thing on the list."

"When are you going to teach me out to shoot beams out of my eyes!" I countered. Before I learned anything else, I wanted to learn that. I had learned all the other basic spells, so she could do at least that much.

Fran let out an irritated huff. "Fine, fine, once I get back from my manor that will be the first thing I teach you."

I held back my excitement, out of all the things I've seen Fran do that was no doubt the coolest. It was the one thing that I was excited about the most.

"If that has been decided, shall we go to the town that smells like flowers?" Once again, Fran climbed on top of me like an insect hurrying up a well.

Truthfully I was a bit nervous about my decision. While I said if things didn't work out, we could leave, the guild may attack us for what we did. Even ignoring that, there was still a host of other problems with joining, be it only temporary.

Depending on how lax the rules of the guild were I probably wouldn't need to take any jobs. Jobs were how mages made money, but if you already had money or didn't need it, I could imagine it not being a big deal.

If worse comes to worst me and Fran could use Direct Charm and get money that way. Though I had a feeling, Fran would probably bring enough money for us to live off for a while.

With one final step, we entered the town of Magnolia. The moment we did, I was nearly suffocated by the sheer amount of people just wandering around.

"I guess a town like this would be popular around this time of year..." Fran sighed, jumping off of my shoulders. "I guess this is where we part ways. I'll return in three days."

"W-wait you're just going to leave me like that?" I stated, causing Fran to pause.

"Ah, your right, I should leave you with a safety net!" Fran then opened her mouth wide, slowly shoving her hand down her throat. Once again, she pulled out a thin piece of paper before handing it to me.

"I doubt you will need it, but for someone as pathetic as you every little bit helps," Fran giggled something that forced me to groan.

"I get it..." I closed my eyes. I was an adult after all, and Fran had taught me everything that I needed to function as a vampire. If I couldn't last three days in a town alone, it would not only reflect poorly on me but also Fran.

Fran nodded. "Still, if you get hungry, there are plenty of animals in the forest for you to feed on. Just remember fish don't sedate your hunger well."

Fran wagged her finger, almost like she was telling a child what to do in case of an emergency.

"Alright, I also won't do anything too stupid while you're gone," I said that, but for some reason, I had a strange feeling I wouldn't be able to keep that promise.

"Well, I am off..." With those words, Fran went the other way. I wondered why she even bothered going this far if she was going to leave the moment we arrived.

"I guess I should decide what I will do first." I scratched the back of my head. Making a B-line to the guild seemed like the most logical choice. While I wanted to hold off, I knew that would make things complicated if I couldn't join the guild. I needed to treat it like a band-aid and rip it off.

Still, how does someone even go about joining a guild? I pondered that question walking through the town. Did I have to sign paperwork? Give my full name? Those were all things that I wanted to avoid.

It didn't take long to find the building in question. Instead of being located in the center of town like I thought it would be it was closer to the coastline. Still, the building itself was more extensive than expected.

If I weren't feeling nervous before I certainly was now, it wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have a run-in with them before. "Maybe I'd be lucky, and all the members I met before aren't there."

After all, a guild is a prominent place. The chances of me running into those people the moment I entered the building was slim.

"Alright, maybe luck is on Armel Mace's side today..." I smiled, opening the doors without hesitation.

The moment I did, I learned that luck was not on Armel Mace's side that day. Not only was all the mages that I encountered back Oshibana all in one area, the one I fought was there as well.

It wasn't a situation where I could say they have me confused with someone similar. I froze in place, pressing my hand against the door, hoping no one would notice me exiting.

Sadly the worst possible person noticed me. The Pink-hair mage with a scarf slowly turned his head, causing our eyes to meet.

"..."

"..."

I had to say something. Anything would be better than remaining silent. "Y-yo!" I gave an awkward smile lifting my hand. Sadly it seemed the fire-mage was less than amused.

"It's you!" He snapped nearly jumping from his seat. "Bastard, because of you me and Erza got arrested!"

I had a feeling that was most likely more their fault than mine. Still, I needed to find a way to defuse the situation before it got worse. There were far too many people in the lounging area of the guild for me to do anything.

"S-sorry about that..." I apologized, though it seemed my words weren't enough to persuade him.

"Now that you're here I'm going to pay you back for last time!" The pink-haired leaned on his seat. Then without warning, he launched towards me like a rocket.

I gritted my teeth, raising both my hands to defend myself, though strangely enough the blow never came. Instead, I felt the entire floor rumble, as a giant fist came down on the mage.

"It's one thing to pick fights with your fellow guildmates, but don't go lunging at strangers."

The fire-mage let out a strange sound as the sizeable extended hand slowly extended back to its source. I looked back up at the nearby table as a short old man jumped off, raising his hand.

"Sorry about that," the old man laughed. "So what brings you here?"

My body stiffened, all eyes were now on me. "I noticed a red-headed woman glaring at me, while a few others shifted in their seats.

They knew...

There was no way they went back to the guild and not talked about me. So why were they acting friendly all of a sudden? Perhaps they were interested in the full story of what happened.

"Well, I wanted to know if there were any spots open for me to join the guild!" I tried to match the peppiness of the room, but it just wasn't me. I never considered myself a depressed person, but I couldn't be happy just for happiness sake.

"Join our guild, huh?" The older man rubbed his chin. "I just got back from a meeting, so filling out your paperwork would be bothersome."

A part of me hoped that meant I couldn't join just yet, that was until the old man laughed. "Why not? You seem like an interesting fellow."

"Eh..." I froze wondering if there had been some mistake. No, I wanted it to be a mistake since I didn't want to join. I figured it would have been impossible to join considering what I had done, but it seemed that I miscalculated.

"Is there a problem?" The man looked confused. "You said you wanted to join."

"Yeah, sorry I spaced out for a moment," I replied. All I had to do was officially join, and Fran and I would be able to use the map.

"Mirajane could you please give him his mark?"

I stiffened, guilds do have marks. I had forgotten about that fact in my haste to join, meaning I'd probably have to get one on my body.

"Hello there!" I heard a sweet voice call out to me, prompting me to turn my head. It was a silver-haired woman, most likely two or three years older than me. Her hair was done up with a single strand, almost as if to keep her bangs out of her face.

Though her most stand out feature was her blue eyes, something that contrasted so heavily with my red I couldn't help but find them...unsettling.

It was a strange feeling. Usually, people would say they were beautiful, but I didn't get that reaction at all, she was gorgeous, and typically I found blue eyes attractive, but it was just this combination that threw me off.

"Where would you like your guild mark?" Her soft words dragged me back to reality.

"I suppose on my back." I had already picked out a spot long before I stepped inside. It had to be a spot where it wouldn't easily be seen, just in case, I decided to do something illegal I didn't want the guild to get into trouble for it.

I lifted my shirt while the woman named Mirajane pressed the stamp against my back. I wondered if my brother had to do something similar when he joined his guild.

He was a part of a guild known as Phantom Lord, but I never bothered looking into it. I was bitter about the whole thing when I was younger due to my lack of magic, so I stopped looking into the magical world as a whole.

Though I guess me ignore that part of the world wouldn't be smart anymore.

"All done!" Mirajane smiled.

I put my shirt back in the correct position letting out a sigh. I probably wouldn't even be able to see it considering I couldn't use mirrors anymore.

"Thanks, Mirajane," I said. Wondering if I spoke to her correctly.

The silver-haired woman just gave a small chuckle. "Please, just call me Mira, and welcome to the guild."

Her smile made me relax. It made me feel somewhat guilty that I didn't plan on spending much time if any in the guildhall. Now that I was an official member, Fran and I should be able to use the map.

The old man then coughed, clearing his throat. "Proper introductions are in order. I am Makarov, the guild master."

"Nice to meet you," there was a moment of silence. I just realized I never even gave my name. They allowed me to join without even asking, which probably just showed her friendly they were. "My name is Armel Mace."

I weighed if using an alias was necessary before I decided against it. I wasn't anyone famous, so it would be pointless to use a fake name.

"Now the only thing we need is your magic!" Mira smiled, the moment she said that I could feel my body stiffened. I couldn't very well say that I used vampire magic.

"I use impact magic." I came up with something random. Using the nature of the spell Dark Cross for my cover. If someone needed proof that I used magic, I would use that spell.

"Perfect," Mira smiled. "Now we can set up your guild-card!"

"Is that everything?" I asked.

"Yep, while you're here you should get to know some of your guildmates!" Mira smiled, wagging her finger.

I winced, I was planning on leaving as soon as I joined, but when she said that I had to stay a little longer. I took a seat at one of the random tables narrowly avoiding getting hit by a thrown chair.

"Hey, I'm not done with you yet!" I heard someone scream from the floor. The fire-mage had risen, even when we weren't fighting, he was causing me trouble.

"Y-yeah, so what do you want to talk about?"

"Because of you, my fight with Erza was cut short!" He snapped.

I still didn't know who Erza was, and I didn't know how I cut his fight short when I wasn't even there. "How can I make it up to you?" I just decided to concede.

"Fight me!"

"Not happening." My response was instantaneous. I wasn't the type of guy that got off fighting other people. I didn't mind fighting if I had to, but there were at least twenty different things I would rather be doing than punching people.

I mean sure, I trained with Fran, but that was in a completely different context.

"What are you afraid or something?" The fire-mage tone told me he wasn't even trying to mock me. He genuinely wanted to know if I was scared.

"Yep, I am a massive coward who's afraid of getting hurt!" I dramatically pointed to him, as if I were giving a piece of evidence that would solve a murder case.

It seemed even he was taken aback by my willingness to admit my cowardice. "Don't sound proud of that!"

Everyone in the guild started to laugh. I suppose the exchange was funny. I looked down at the table I was sitting at, noticing the massive beams of light shining onto it.

I was sitting at just the perfect spot that the sun would be hitting me if my sun shield wasn't up. I looked around the guild noticing everyone talking, only a few of them sparing a glance.

That was until I noticed a strange-looking girl sitting a few tables down. She was looking straight at me, her gaze not adverting even for a moment.

She had a dark complexion with blonde hair. On the top of her head was a cat hat, at least that is what I thought it was called. Floating around her seemed to be small ghosts, something that I didn't expect to see.

At first, I thought she was looking at someone behind me, but after a minute or two, there was no mistaking the fact that I was the target of her gaze.

"Is she into me or something?" I whispered to myself before dismissing the notion. When people had crushes on someone, they didn't just stare at them like a zombie. They would also at least advert their gaze if the target of their affection stared back.

This girl, however, didn't seem to care if I looked at her or not. She just watched me, as if trying to decide what I was.

After a few more minutes of her stares, I stood up. "I just realized I need to find a room, so I have to go."

It was just too awkward, no the situation was already awkward before, but this was just the final nail in the coffin. I had no intentions on returning to the guildhouse for a while, but perhaps that was for the best.

I quickly walked out of the building before anyone else could stop me.

I found the nearest inn and got a room. I ended up having to use my direct charm to avoid paying, but it wasn't like I was planning on staying for long.

I walked up to the second floor of the building and into my room. From there, I emptied my pockets, including the sealing tag that Fran had given me.

I sighed scratching my head. "Geez, talk about needlessly stressful, but at least I got what I came for." I prepared myself to get up and check the nearby mirror before realizing it wouldn't do me any good.

I sighed once again, kicking off my shoes and lying in bed. "I guess I can stay in this room for three days straight."

Fran and I ate two pigs before we arrived in Magnolia town, meaning I was good on flesh and blood for a while. Typically horses gave the best amount of blood, usually sustaining us for more than a week, but pigs were an excellent substitute too.

"...When did my thoughts become so...creepy." I groaned again. I had gotten used to being a vampire for the most part, but how I now viewed certain things made me shiver.

Before I could contemplate that any further, I heard a knock at the door. "Did I forget something at the front desk?" I walked back over to my door, casually opening it up.

The moment I did, my heart sank. It was the girl that had been giving me the strange looks before.

Did she follow me? No, she must have followed me; there was no other reason for her to be standing at my door unless she traced every last one of my steps to my room.

"H-hey, what's up?" I asked.

Once again, she just stared. The two ghosts beside her gave the strangest of smiles. I then noticed her gaze shifting to the mirror in the back of my hotel room.

"You... are a weird one."

Despite my best attempts to act friendly, that one line caused me to snap. "I'm not the one who followed someone to their hotel room..." I made my response as blunt as possible.

The girl, however, just sighed rubbing the back of her head. "I read... a lot of books... mostly horror novels."

How she paced her words were painfully slow like she needed a break every three or for words. "I suppose reading is fine, but what does that have to do with me?"

The girl pressed her finger to her lips staring directly into my red eyes. "No one else noticed... but because I read those books...I could tell."

"Tell...what?"

"The light... it doesn't reflect off of your body right."

The moment she said that my insides wanted to collapse on themselves. Most people didn't comment on it, probably due it being such a small issue that they would chalk it up on their eyes playing tricks on them.

"M-maybe you were just sitting in an odd spot!" I gave a half-hearted defense, which caused the girl to shake her head.

"I also...noticed it happening...while I was following you here."

I bit my thumb, I knew where she was getting at, and I didn't like it. "L-listen, light is weird, there are plenty of reasons that could happen."

"You're right..." The girl nodded before pointing past me. "But... I don't think. You can explain that..." I looked over to the mirror, noticing the only one being reflected in it was the girl.

"From where I'm standing, you should be blocking me, but yet the mirror isn't reflecting you at all." The dark-skinned girl added.

I was careless. I somehow managed to blow my cover in less than twenty-four hours of separating from Fran. If she were there, she'd probably call me an idiot and stomp on my head.

"What...do you want?" I had given up any chance of concealing my true nature.

"I need... your help...vampbro."

**Author note.**

**Long ass chapter.**

**What do you guys think of Armel as the main character overall? Like him, hate him? Find him funny/likable annoying? I wanted to make someone who interacted with others in an interesting way.**

**Saying or doing things that you might not always expect.**

**I might ditch Chico's way of talking if people find it annoying to read.**

**Also, yeah you guys were probably expecting the first arc involving Fairy Tail to feature more critical characters. Nah, the first arc is going to have Chico in a staring role!**

**It's a mini-arc, so it's only going to be about two chapters long.**

**I probably won't be updating as quickly as these last two times.**

**Some more information about Vampires.**

**They can't get drunk. Their healing ability prevents them from experiencing any form of alcohol poisoning.**

**They can have sex, but vampires can only reproduce with vampires, or by turning a human into one via draining all of their blood and replacing it with some that's in their bodies. Meaning you won't be seeing any half-vampires running around.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**A Tale of Possession Part 1**

"You need...my help?" I was genuinely confused as to why a member of what I assumed to be the most powerful guild in Fiore would need help from a no-named recruit.

"Yes..." The blonde girl insisted. "You're a vampire, so it has to be you." The girl then forced her way into my room, taking a seat on my bed.

I couldn't help but let a frown creep across my face. "First of all, you've yet to prove that I'm a vampire, second of all, you're a part of a guild. Why not ask one fo them to help?"

That made the most logical sense. A guild was pretty much a big family. I was positive there as at least twenty people that would be willing to help her out.

"Well..." The girl brushed her long hair to the side. "I already tried to get a few of them to help, but they couldn't help." She then paused for a moment, "plus if I ask any of the stronger members, they'd probably refuse."

I started to understand. It was probably the type of task she wanted to keep on the down-low. Something that some people would consider shady. It made sense that she would come to someone that didn't have a real connection to the guild.

"Still, couldn't you have hired someone at that point." I closed one of my eyes, causing the girl with the cat hat to tilt her head.

"That'd be pretty bad...someone from a guild hiring another guild. Plus it's something straightforward, so simple that it'd only take thirty minutes at most."

I crossed my arms, everything about the situation was telling me to tell her, no, but at the same time... "Listen, even though I'm not a vampire, I'll hear you out as long as you don't spread any rumors about me."

The girl gave me a soft smile. "Don't worry vampbro...I won't tell anyone you're a vampire..."

The rather slow way of talking combined with her words was starting to irritate me slightly. "Don't call me that, what's your name anyway?"

"Chico, my full name is long...so I won't say it." Chico then let out a defeated sigh. I had a feeling her keeping her last from me had less to do with the mage trying to keep secrets and more due to her just not wanting to be bothered.

I nodded, "my name i-"

"I don't need it..." Chico cut me off like she was slamming on an emergency brake. "I heard Mira talking to you, so I already know your name vampbro."

"Don't call me that!" I snapped again, "besides its just common courtesy to listen to someone introducing themselves..."

Chico just looked at me, the small ghost hovering around her figure starting to giggle like children that had heard a dirty joke. "Anyway, getting to the matter at hand..."

"Don't just ignore me," I groaned. I had to wonder if every Fairy Tail mage was like this.

"I want you to help me undo a seal in town..." Chico asked. It wasn't something I expected.

"A seal?" To say I wasn't an expert at that sort of thing would have been an understatement. I sure Fran would have been able to do so, but someone who had magic for less than a week had no hope in doing something so complicated. "I think you might have the wrong person."

The moment I said that Chico gave me a sideward glance, "I didn't think vampires were the type to give up so easily..."

I gritted my teeth. It was one thing if she insulted me on a personal level. I would have just walked it off, but having her insult vampires as a whole was pretty much the same as insulting Fran.

"Fine, fine, why do you want me to unseal it anyway?"

Chico closed her eyes. "Well, it has something to do with my magic." The two ghosts that were hovering around Chico promptly wrapped themselves around her arms, like gloves. "Legend of City."

I tried to keep my face stoic, despite how silly the ghost looked there was something ominous about Chico's magic. "I guess those are the spirits of the dead?"

Chico just nodded, uncurling the ghost from around her. "They let me collect those who have died in Magnolia town and use them for fighting, but the problem with the magic is that if I leave the town the go back to their resting spot and I have to collect them again."

"That...seems like a useless magic." I blurted that out without even thinking about it. It was only after I had said those words that I realized just how rude it was.

Chico's lips twisted into a frown. "I know, it's why I'm doing this. The creature that is sealed is the spirit of a demon that was killed in this town."

My body stiffened the moment the mage said demon. From my experience with Lullaby, I knew such creatures weren't to be taken lightly. "Are you sure you'll be able to collect it if we release that thing?"

Chico's eyes widened as she pressed her fingers to her lips. "If it's dead, we have nothing to worry about. Spirits can't do much by themselves, so even if it's a demon ghost, it's still just a ghost..."

The way that Chico dragged her words made her seem far less confident. Still, she was the more experienced mage in this situation, plus she knew her magic better than anyone. If she felt that she could capture a demonic spirit, I had no reason to doubt it.

"So where is this seal?" I scratched the back of my head. I wanted to get it done before Fran arrived back in town.

Chico crossed her legs, almost like she had a thought. "Meet me in front of the inn at midnight. From there I explain the rest..." With those words, the ghost mage slowly stood up, like an invisible rope was dragging her.

"A ghost hunt at midnight..." I couldn't help but groan a little. "It sounds like a plot to a cheap horror novel."

"I know," Chico smiled. "My heart is racing just thinking about it..." Despite her words, Chico's expression and tone remained unchanged.

Once the ghost-mage left my room, taking her spirits with her, I collapsed onto my bed. "I wonder if agreeing to help her was the right decision."

She didn't seem like a bad person, so I had no reason to believe she wouldn't live up to her side of the deal. It's not like I had anything better to do while waiting for Fran to return.

I decided to stay in my room for the rest of the day, scanning through the variety of magazines they had laid out for guests. I would risk going out, not by some off chance I encounter another weirdo that could tell I was a vampire just by looking at me.

Most of the magazines were sorcerer weekly. Something that I had never been fond of, but they made good material to pass the time.

Time passed painfully slow, but it did pass nonetheless. Though it did give me time to think since I'm a vampire, I probably was going to outlive any human I met. It was sort of weird, but also calming.

On the one hand, I probably won't ever experience the anxiety of natural death. On the other, I needed to start making some more vampire friends if I didn't want to be miserable for the next two hundred years.

Once the sun had vanished entirely, I looked out of the window. It was most likely midnight, at least that is what the clock in the corner of the room told me.

I jumped off my bed, but before I could walk through the door, I stopped myself. Was going through the lobby such a good idea?

I thought about it. I was already using Direct Charm to avoid paying. It would be in my best interest to evade as many of the inn workers as possible.

I opened up the window putting one foot through it. I then clung to the side of the building with my nails, slowly sliding down. Once I reached the bottom, I noticed the moonlight was hitting my body.

"Huh, I guess sun shield only reflects sunlight." I pressed my hand against my chest. It was nice to know that not all sources of natural light bounced off my body.

I walked to the front of the building to see Chico leaning against it. Strangely she wasn't the one who noticed me, but instead, one of the two ghosts that hung around her head pointed to me.

"Huh, why did you come around back vampbro..." Chico said with a sigh.

"Oy, don't sigh like that!" I pointed to the Fairy Tail mage. "I'm the one who should be sighing considering you keep using that nickname." I knew teenage girls liked teasing people, but her carelessly using that name could lead to people finding out my true nature.

"Anyway, do you have anything that you need?" Chico brushed her hair to the side. Her almost aloof manner made me wonder if she was just a naturally relaxed person or if she did it to irritate people.

"I mean, there are plenty of things that I need. I wouldn't mind billions of jewels, for example."

Chico's eyes widened, almost like she didn't expect me to make a joke. "That good vampbro, if Fairy Tail ever makes a figure out of you, that should be your voice line..."

I slumped my shoulders, a part of me wanted to know what she was referring to, but I had a feeling that whatever answer I got would be even more confusing.

"To get back on topic, where the seal?" I asked.

"Follow me," Chico said while the ghost above her head pointed her to a seemingly random direction.

We traveled through the nearly deserted town. It made sense that no one would be walking around at midnight, which was probably Chico's plan.

"By the way, Chico, why do you want to do this?" I didn't know why I asked her that question, but I felt the need to ask anyway.

"Hmm? Isn't it obvious? I want to get stronger..." Chico replied, not even bothering to turn and face me.

I frowned, she was treating me like some newbie that she had to babysit. Despite the fact, she was the one that asked me for help.

"I get that, but why?" I decided to ignore the subtle insult. "You don't seem like the type to care about."

From her demeanor to her personality. Chico didn't seem like the type that would go through the hassle of gaining more strength for the sake of it.

"...Do you really want to know?" Chico stopped, her heels digging into the dirt.

My heart nearly stopped. I've read enough books to know this was a dramatic reveal. Did she need to get stronger to help pay off her family debt? Or maybe she needed to rescue an old friend that had been captured years ago.

"Go ahead, tell me!" A spring of anticipation started to well up inside me.

"The reason is..." Chico paused for dramatic effect. "Because the guy I like is into strong girls..."

"..."

"..."

"That's it?" My expression changed from excited to stone.

"That's it," Chico replied in her usual slow tone, she then struck a pose as the two ghosts behind her morphed into a shape of a giant heart.

I didn't know how to react. I wanted to yell at Chico, to tell her that getting a boy to notice you is not a good reason to release a demon ghost.

"I-I guess that makes sense. Teenage girls tend to do stupid things for love..." I tried to justify her actions mentally.

"Chico's eyes widened, almost as if she was confused by my statement. "I'm 22."

"..." Once again, I didn't reply right away. Instead, I opted to scan every part of her body, her hips, her legs, even her boobs. "W-wait, that means you're nearly four years older than me!"

For the first time, Chico gave me a genuine frown. "Please don't say it like that..."

"S-sorry," I replied. "It's just, from your looks I'd never guess you'd be older than me."

"I also never expected you to be so young vampbro. Unless you are just pretending to be young and are a thousand years old."

I slumped my shoulders. "If I were that old I'd probably wouldn't be here right now."

We continued on until we reached what seemed like a more rundown section of the town. It was near the docks, but most of the buildings looked abandoned like someone was going to tear it down but forgot.

We walked along the pier until we came to a strange-looking building. It looked like some small warehouse, one where the roof seemed like it was going to collapse in on itself.

"I only took a few people here..." Chico pressed her finger against the door. She then turned the rusted doorknob allow us to sneak into the building proper.

Due to the holes in the ceiling moonlight poured into the single room structure. The building itself was empty, no bugs, no rats, not a single sign of life. In the center of the floor was a single piece of paper, not too different from the tag that Fran used to seal Lullaby.

I glanced over to Chico, the ghost that surrounded her were shivering like they had walked into a crime scene.

"I suppose that's the seal in question?" I asked, prompting Chico to nod.

The ghost-mage then walked up to the tag kneeling next to it. Chico then lifted her hand, almost like she was preparing to remove the piece of paper herself. Strangely enough, an invisible forced stopped her. It was as if someone had placed a glass dome over the seal.

"This is the problem..." Chico tapped the forcefield with her nail. "No matter how strong the force is, the dome won't break. I was going to ask some of the other members at Fairy Tail, but I was afraid they would bring down the entire building."

I took a seat next to Chico, wondering what I could do. Even if I could use the laser eyes, I had a feeling they'd end doing more harm than good. "Chico, I don't know what you want me to do..."

"Just try to remove it, you're a vampire... you must have one spell that could do something."

The moment she said that made me realize that Chico didn't have a plan, she was asking whoever she could if they would try and remove it.

Still, I was already there, and at the very least, I could see what I was working with. I slowly lowered my fingers, expecting the same shield that blocked Chico to deny me.

Strangely enough, that didn't happen. Instead, my hand easily was able to reach the small piece of paper on the floor.

"See, I knew asking you was a good idea..." For the first time, Chico's voice showed a hint of excitement. I, on the other hand, was just confused.

What separated me from Chico? Was it because I was a vampire and she was human? Perhaps the seal only prevented humans from accessing it, but any other species was okay?

"The only thing left for us to do is peel it off..." I dug my nail under the tag, but the moment I did an indescribable feeling of dread filled my very being.

No, it was more than that. It was like my inner voice was screaming at me to stop.

"What's wrong?" Chico gaze fell onto my fingers. The ghosts that surrounded her were no longer shivering, but instead cowering behind her tiny frame.

"N-nothing..." I shook my head. I had always been a firm believer in believing in your gut instinct. "Chico are you sure you are prepared for what's going to come out of here?"

"...I wouldn't be here if I weren't."

I didn't know if her reply was confidence or arrogance. Either way, I had already made a promise, so I quickly ripped off the seal like it was a band-aid. When I did the small paper crumpled itself up, turning into ash in my fingers.

Neither of us moved, with each second that passed I felt an ever-encroaching emotion that I couldn't even describe. Just when it felt like when we were int he clear, a strange square symbol appeared on the ground almost as if someone had cut out the bottom of the warehouse.

In an instant, a chunk of the floor came shooting out of the ground, followed by a strange light. It wasn't purple or green like one would expect from an evil aura. No instead it was a soft, warm orange and yellow color.

Which made what happened next all the more unsettling.

I winced, as a strange sound filled my head. It wasn't screams or moans, just...sounds. It sounded like something, like an amalgamation of noises.

The creature had paralyzed me, however, that only lasted for a moment before I regained feeling in my limbs. The same could not be said for Chico, however.

"Chico we need to mov-" I cut myself off looking at the girl.

She was on her knees, tears rolling down her face. She wasn't sobbing or anything of the sort. It almost seemed like Chico didn't even realize she was crying.

I cursed myself looking up towards the ceiling. The warm mass of...something swirled around. I had always figured a demon ghost would have some kind of demonic face, nothing like this.

Regardless Chico was utterly useless in her current state. She wasn't responsive to anything, almost like just being around the specter was enough to shut her down.

"Damn it, fine then!" I snapped, raising both of my hands. I didn't know how I would be able to fight a ghost, but at the very least I could try.

Despite not having eyes or any describable form, I could feel the creature peering into me. Then, like a switch, it ignored me, locking onto the defenseless woman sitting next to me.

There was no doubt about it. Its target was Chico.

**Author note**

**A somewhat short chapter. I wanted to subvert the usual scary ghost demon creature design. I am even going so far as making the light moderately warm instead of cold.**

**Also, my last chapter wasn't too popular XD. I wonder if it was a certain story decision or if it was because the chapter itself was dull and boring.**

**Either way, I'll probably shorten this arc into one more chapter instead of the 2 I was planning on doing with it.**

**On a lighter note, what do you think of Chico's and Armel's interactions? Fun, engaging, dull?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**A Tale of Possession Part 2**

"Oy, Chico snap out of it!" I screamed at the woman, but the ghost mage remained frozen. The large demonic spirit inched its way closer towards her.

In an instant, I swooped her off of her feet, carrying her like a sack of discarded potatoes. I could make it out the building, even if the demon blocked the entrance all I had to do was kick off the wall and jump out of one of the holes in the ceiling.

"Hold on Chi-" I couldn't even finish my statement before being punched in the face. For whatever reason Chico started screaming, her limbs flailing about like I was attempting to kidnap her.

"Let go!" She screeched clawing and elbowing me any way she could.

What the hell was wrong with her? She wasn't acting normal at all. Her eyes were wide, and the sheer terror in her screams was inhuman. Did she want to be killed by the demon?

Despite nearly dropping her, I decided to ignore her attempts to escape my grasp and follow through with my plan. I quickly ran up the wall, avoiding the various limbs the demon was attempting to grab me with and broke through the ceiling.

I slide down the roof back onto the docks. Chico had calmed down, or rather, she was no longer trying to claw my eyes out. "Are you alright?" I asked, keeping my eyes locked onto the building.

Chico's chest was heaving, and her body was shaking like someone had told her that her mother had died. "Y-yeah..." It was apparent she wasn't even going to attempt to justify her actions inside of the warehouse.

Just when I was prepared to relax the sound of bending and breaking wood echoed through the night sky. I looked over to the roof of the warehouse to see a warm golden mist escaping from the holes as if it was steam escaping from a vent.

"C-Chico, don't you know any spell to seal it or something?" I asked, hoping that what happened in the warehouse was just a fluke.

"I-I don't vampbro. I usually use my magic to overpower any spirit that is hard to control. I had never faced one this powerful." Chico clung to me. I knew her stomach must have been in knots.

I gritted my teeth. The mist slowly took form into something different compared to the appearance it had before. Instead of an indescribable mass, the shape was almost...beast like. Not canine or feline, but an odd mixture of the two.

The ghost planted its feet on the ceiling, then turned into a swirling cloud before rocketing towards us.

I grabbed ahold of Chico leaping away from the area. The ghost mage continued to cling to me for dear life. I stuck to a side of the nearby building looking back at the wooden docks.

Despite the size of the creature and the speed it was moving at, there was no noticeable damage to the surrounding area. It indeed was like a ghost, having no real impact on the physical world.

"W-we need to run away and hide." Chico stuttered, "we need to be anywhere, but here!" The desperation in her voice didn't feel me with a whole lot of confidence.

I was ready to agree with her before remembering something important. It was our fault that the demon got released in the first place if we ran away, there was a chance that it would try to attack innocent people.

"We can't do that. We got to find a way to stop this thing..." I hated the words that were coming out of my mouth. Still, even cowardice had to have limits, or at least that is what Fran told me.

"W-what?" Chico swallowed harshly, looking at the strange beast with no eyes. "We can't we need to leave this to someone else!"

I was about to reply, but before I good the beast leaped towards us again. I once again shifted my body dodging the attack and landing back onto the ground. I then started to run in a random direction using all of my speed to put distance between us and the restless spirit.

"Aren't you supposed to be the ghost expert!" I snapped still carrying Chico as I ran. I peeked over my shoulder. It seemed despite my speed, the creature was keeping up with us. No, it was more like a ball and chain stuck to our ankles, no matter how fast I went, the beast was always just a few steps behind us.

"I-I know..." Chico bit her bottom lip. "Unless...we can find a way to reseal it, I don't think we can stop it."

The word seal echoed through my brain. Then as if something had dawned on me, I made a sharp turned heading back into the city proper. My original plan was to lead the ghost out of the town, but I had a much better idea.

"V-vampbro, what are you doing?" Chico asked, somehow she was managing to sound both bored and worried at the same time.

"I just remembered something..." I replied. "I've got a seal back at my hotel room that we could use. I don't know if it will work, but it's better than just running away all night."

Of course, the seal wasn't mine to use. Fran had told me the pieces of paper were a one-time use. Meaning using it now meant I wouldn't be able to use it later, which would no doubt piss-off the black-haired vampire girl when she got back regardless of context.

"Do you know how to use it?" Chico asked.

I opened my mouth to reply before I noticed something. I noticed a strange human-like shadow running across the nearby building with us. My eye twitched as I glanced behind me, the giant creature that had been chasing us was gone.

It only took a second for my brain to understand what had happened. The shadowy figure slowly started to pull off of the building extending its hands towards me, no it was aiming at Chico.

I pivoted my foot, avoiding the hands that had turned into cages. I stumbled backward, the featureless golden shadow pulled itself off of the wall.

It was trying to get to Chico, for whatever reason it had no interest in destruction or anything else. Which for some reason, made it all the more chilling.

The shadow retained its human-like form. Then a slit appeared on its face from ear to ear reminiscent of a smile. Something wasn't right. It was about to do something, and I wasn't going to wait to find out.

I started my sprint once again. This time I didn't even bother to look behind me. It didn't matter how close or how far away the ghost was, as long as we got to the hotel in time.

That was until I noticed my shadow acting strangely. I usually would have dismissed it. After all, due to sun shield, sunlight doesn't reflect off of vampires typically, but that couldn't have been the problem. It was the middle of the night. Moonlight reflected off of vampires like anyone else.

I slowly turned around to see...something. I couldn't describe it. 'Something' had attached itself to my shadow, before I could react that something went straight through my body.

"Ah..." I heard Chico let out a squeak as the figure struck her, ripping her right out of my hands. She flew into the air, before tumbling against the ground like she had been hit by a magical vehicle.

I stood there, froze. My eyes wandered around the area, wondering exactly where the ghost could have gone. "Chico are you alright!" I shouted, running towards her, then for some reason, I stopped.

Despite the ghost mage lying motionlessly, there was an aura about her — something telling me just to run, even though I had no reason to do so. Then as if my natural defenses as a vampire kicked in, a voice in the back of my head whispered to me.

Where was the ghost? Something that had been hounding us wouldn't just leave after a single attack. So my eyes stayed glued on the ghost mage. "Chico..."

Finally, she responded to my voice. Her limps twitched while her hat fell off her head. Her body then dragged itself to its feet; her arms hung loosely to her sides.

A part of me hoped Chico was playing some elaborate joke, but I knew I wasn't going to be that lucky.

" " Chico made a noise, but it sounded empty like the wind. Then in an instant, she got on all fours and dashed towards me like a crazed monster.

"S-shit!" I moved my body, narrowly avoiding her nails before she swiped at me again. She was fast, faster than any average human should have been.

I lifted my arm blocking the attack, the moment her forearm made impact with mine, I felt my bones starting to rattle. I gritted my teeth. Chico had somehow managed to get herself possessed.

"D-damn it, sorry, Chico!" I grabbed her face and hooked my foot around her leg. I then forced her to the ground just like I did to the dark mage from before. I knew it was likely that I would break some fo her bones, but I had to stop her from moving.

The cement cracked the moment Chico's body hit it. Despite that, something strange happened, instead of stopping the possessed mage dug her nails into my arm.

"Huh?" Before I could realize what she was doing, she twisted her body like a top. I heard three cracks before blood started rushing out of my body, or more specifically, the place where my arm used to be.

A surge of pain traveled to my elbow. It took all of not to scream. I instead gritted my teeth, keeping focus on Chico.

She had my arm above my head, ready to slam it back down onto my skull. I narrowly avoid the attack. I stomped on her toes, before sinking my teeth into my severed arm. I then used my free hand push her back, forcing her to let go of my limb.

The force of my attack was enough to send her flying into a nearby lamp pole, snapping it in two.

"Ah...ah..." I quickly reattached my limb, which forced another surge of pain in my body. I supposed I should have been happy that vampires couldn't fall unconscious.

I moved my fingers, making sure all of my nerves were still working. I then turned my attention to the possessed Chico before I lowered my stance. I had prepared myself to fight, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I couldn't.

If I used all my strength to fight, Chico...she would die. The demon had possessed her body, meaning it would use her up until she broke.

Even now, from two simple attacks, the damage was noticeable.

"Damn it..." I grumbled as I noticed Chico picking up the destroyed lamp-post. My body tensed before she threw it like a spear. I ducked under the make-shift spear before running once again.

" #$! %%%# " Chico made more incoherent sounds as she continued to chase me.

Even if Chico had been possessed, the plan did not change. I still needed to get the tag from the hotel room and purify her. I glanced over my shoulder. Chico was still chasing me on all fours.

That was until she kicked off the ground crawling along the wall.

"Damn, I didn't think she'd be this fast..." I bit my bottom lip. Still, we were getting close to the hotel room. Meaning my salvation was close.

Chico jolted off the wall. Her arm outstretched like a dagger, I lept forward avoiding the attack, I turned the final corner to see the inn in my sights.

"Follow me...Chico." I said, pushing myself to the limit. Leaves and dirt were kicked about while I dashed towards the hotel wall. With a single leap, I stuck myself to the side of the building quickly crawling up the wall. I looked down, despite me increasing my speed it seemed the demon-possessed Chico was right behind me.

I crawled into the window. My eyes head straight to the table where I had placed the tag. I quickly grabbed it, but the moment I did, I felt something tackle me.

I tumbled forward Chico nails digging into my skin. I grabbed one of my arms with my free hand, the other hand keeping its grip on the tag.

Sadly this meant that Chico still had one limb she could use. Without warning, she shoved her fist into my stomach, wrapping her fingers around my intestine. She tugged on them like a string.

I flinched due to the pain, but I quickly pushed past it placing the tag on Chico's forehead. The moment I did, she stopped moving, she slowly let go of my guts as the pure white tag turned an inky black.

I closed my eyes since I didn't want to be blinded. I waited for a few seconds to be sure that the flash of light had passed before I opened them.

Chico slowly collapsed on top of me, which prompted me to push her off. I slowly stuffed my intestines back into my body, holding them in place as they slowly healed.

I leaned my head back against the wall, breathing heavily. I looked over to Chico, who also seemed who seemed to be alive despite everything that had happened.

"I guess...that's that." The entire room was a mess. It was covered in my blood from the aforementioned attempted disembowelment, and the bed had been snapped in two.

"Help me capture a monster she said...it'd be easy she said." I stood up, looking down at Chico. She was covered in bruises, and her arm looked like it had been busted up pretty good.

"I can't take her back home like this. I'll wait until morning to take her to the hospital proper." It was the best solution for both of us. I had a feeling that Chico probably didn't want to have any of the other member's of Fairy Tail find out about her attempted demon resurrection.

The following hours were awkward, to say the least, there was no way I was going to be able to sleep. Not with the strange glow coming from the tag and Chico still unconscious. Once the sun started to rise, I changed clothes and scooped Chico up into my arms.

I wondered how exactly I was going to explain to the doctors what happened that was until I decided not to. I jumped from the second floor of the inn, making my way to the hospital.

Truthfully I was rather lucky it was nearby. I place Chico against the wall of the building, a ting of guilt fill my stomach. I knew I couldn't dawdle for long, but I made a mental note to apologize when I got the chance.

The next course of action was to do something with the demon sealed within the tag. I couldn't very well leave it in the hotel room, all it would take was someone finding it and ripping it up.

I rushed back to the hotel room, pondering my next course of action. Fran wouldn't be back for another two days, and it's not like I could take my current problem to any of the members of Fairy Tail...except one.

"I wonder if Porlyusica will help me out?" I didn't want to ask someone as cranky as her, but I didn't have anywhere else to turn. Besides, even if she didn't want to help, disposing of the tag in the forest made more sense than trying to find a spot in the city.

Once again, I crawled out of the window. I was starting to feel like a freak for doing it so often, but I suppose that was the life of a vampire, or at least that is something Fran would have said.

I made my way back to the outskirts of Magnolia town. The scenery was rather breathtaking during dawn. Almost like I had stepped into a painting of an artist that focused too much on the small details.

I looked at the tag; the light purple glow it gave off was ominous. Sadly this was the only thing I could do at the moment.

I finally stumbled upon the treehouse. I had almost forgotten that Porlyusica indeed lived in such a tacky looking place. I walked up the steps as I pressed my knuckles against the door. I wondered if she would even be awake at this time.

I caved, knocking on the door. There was a moment of silence before the door opened.

"What do you want?" Porlyusica snapped, I had a feeling she would be saying that to anyone who decided to drop by.

"Yo, I'm surprised that you're up this ea-"

"Cut the small talk." The pink-haired said while she glared at me. "Fran isn't with you, so I assume you don't have the staff, which only could mean you want something from me."

I groaned, she read me like a book. "I guess it's pointless to try and beat around the bush. Do you have a magical bottle or something?"

Porlyusica raised her brow at my request. "Why do you ask?"

I held up the demonic tag I had been carrying around all morning. "Just looking to bury this, and needed something for extra protection."

The moment she saw the glowing tag, her eyes narrowed, even more than usual. "Where did...you get something like that?"

I let out a nervous laugh scratching my cheek. "I'd be really convenient if you didn't ask that." I sounded like some shady dealer, but explaining myself most likely would have made the situation worse.

Porlyusica groaned walking back inside her hut. At first, I thought she had left until she came out a few minutes later, handing me a small bottle with a cap.

"Is this some magical bottle that can seal magic?" I dangled the item above my head, trying to notice anything unusual.

"No, it's just a normal bottle." The stern way that Porlyusica spoke told me she wasn't joking, yet the absurd nature of the statement made me question some things.

"A-are you pulling my leg?" I stuttered.

"What? Do you think I have magical items to just hand out? The bottle will protect the tag if you decide to bury it or throw it into the ocean."

I groaned, I knew the result before even asking, but I had hoped that I was wrong. Before I even had the chance to voice my displeasure Porlyusica had slammed the door in my face.

"Bah, whatever..." I sulked away, opening the bottle and stuffing the tag inside properly. I then found a somewhat empty clearing and started to dig. I decided to use my bare hands. After a few minutes, I managed to dig a hole at least a few feet deep, one of the many perks of being a vampire perhaps.

I then placed the tag into the pit, covering it up completely. I didn't know who sealed the demon in the first place, or why it was in Magnolia town, but none of that mattered. I doubted I would ever see that thing again.

The rest of the day was completely uneventful. I dared not visit Chico in the hospital, and I had no reason to go to the guild since I was actively avoiding it. Instead, I spent most of it trying to think of good excuses to tell Fran.

The second day slowly passed by. I had successfully cleaned my hotel room as much as possible. There were still a few blood stains on the carpet, but I just hoped that the cleaner would chalk it up to wine stains.

For the second time since I got the room, I walked downstairs and out of the lobby. Fran would probably be back later on that day, meaning if I had to get something done related to Chico now would have been the best time.

"Is Chico even out of the hospital yet?" I crossed my arms. I had no idea where she lived; she never really mentioned it to me. Which meant the only way I could check up on her was to head back to the guildhall.

I bit the inside of my cheek. I didn't want to go back there, but I also couldn't just not check up on Chico either. At worst, I slip inside to ask how she was doing and leave, no harm done.

I dragged my feet back in front of Fairy Tail. I nervously pressed my hand against the double doors entering inside correctly. Once again, the shouts and joyous nature nearly caused me to go deaf.

At the very least, all eyes weren't on me, unlike the first time I entered, so that was a plus. I took a few steps inside, desperately trying to scan for Chico.

Sadly the first person I saw wasn't the ghost mage, but rather the familiar fire mage.

I figured he'd run up and try to pick a fight with me like the other day. Instead, he looked at me, as if trying to judge my character.

"I suppose you aren't a bad person, after all."

I was...confused by his statement. I understood why he might have thought my morals were less than stellar considering what happened with Lullaby, but why did he suddenly change his mind about me?

Luckily Mira was there to explain his thought process. "We heard what you did the other night for Chico. It was kind of you." The white-haired woman flashed her usual motherly smile, which forced me to grow pale.

"W-what do you mean the other night?" I wondered just how much Chico told them about the events that had transpired.

"Chico told us that she got hit by a magical vehicle, and you carried her to the hospital," Mira said, the moment she said that all the muscles in my body relaxed like I had been given a sedative.

"I-it wasn't a big deal..." I laughed, I tried my best not to let on that what Chico had told them was a transparent lie.

The pink-haired mage nodded. "Someone who does something like that can't be bad, at least that is what I think..."

The gesture was nice, even if it was built off a fabrication. I suppose I technically did help Chico, either way, speaking of which. "Where is Chico? I wanted to talk to her."

Mira merely pointed to the corner of the room. There I saw Chico standing, her arm in a cast. Our eyes met, which prompted the ghost mage to point to the door. It seemed that she wanted to talk to me outside.

I followed the blonde woman out the guild hall towards the nearby pier. Once she was by the water, she turned to face me. She wore her usual bored expression before she spoke.

"I'm sorry..." She dragged out the last bit, "I forced you to do something dangerous...and you got hurt because of it."

I found her statement somewhat ironic when one considered the fact she was covered in bandages. "Don't be. I'm the one that hurt you. I'm the one who should be apologizing."

Chico's blank expression turned into a smile. "I...suppose you do have to say you're sorry...but not because of that."

Now I was confused, what else could I have to apologize for?

It seemed that Chico understood my confusion. She lifted her functional arm, before pointing to me as if I was a culprit to a murder case. "You didn't visit me yesterday...I thought...you might have died because of me."

I suppose her fear made sense. She probably didn't remember anything that happened after she was possessed, and if she did, it couldn't have been the full story.

"Sorry about that too..." I scratched the back of my head. The moment I apologized again Chico let out a chuckle.

"That's a good response. You're the type of person that's easy to take advantage of, the kind that will help someone no matter how stupid the request."

"H-hey what's with the sudden insults!" I snapped. I figured we were having a moment and she went and ruined it.

"Nothing..." Chico tilted her head and gave a lazy smile. "You'll help me if I get in a bind again, no questions ask...right vampbro?"

I was taken aback by the comment, but I smiled all the same. "Yeah, if you need me I'll help you no matter what."

**Author's note**

**Armel made his first Fairy Tail friend. This concludes the possession mini-arc. The arc initially was going to be one chapter longer. Chico was supposed to be possessed, but it wasn't supposed to become apparent for a day or two.**

**Of course, I decided to scrap that and have the events all take place in a single night.**

**Next arc is going to feature the Thunder God Tribe, well at least Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The Vacation Excuse.

"Eh? You want to go on vacation?" Mira's eyes widened, her fingers pressed against her lips as if to seal her shock.

My eyes scanned the guildhall. It had been four days since the incident with Chico and the demon ghost. Like I had planned, I avoided the guild, mostly because I didn't want to be bothered.

"There isn't a rule against taking vacations, right?" I scratched the back of my head. The only reason I was even telling anyone in the first place was not to be rude. Of course, such action in and of itself could be considered tactless.

"Not really..." The silver-haired mage replied. "We don't keep track of that sort of thing unless it's for a quest, you're free to come and go as you please."

It was a relief. I figured the guild would have been a bit more strict about that. Then again, most members probably naturally hung around the guildhall for jobs since they needed the money.

"That's nice to know..." I ran my fingers through my hair. "Chico is still doing fine right?" I noticed the ghost mage's absence when I first entered the building.

Mira didn't reply right away. Instead, her cheeks puffed as she placed her hands on her hips. "If you came by here more often you wouldn't need to ask me that."

I slumped my shoulders, "I guess she's fine." I made that assumption since Mira didn't say anything about her.

Mira frowned. "I can take the hint. Still...most new mages at least try to take a couple of jobs. But you seem entirely uninterested, does this have to do with the manor you bought?"

The moment she brought up the manor, my eyes rapidly blink. "Wait, how do you know that?"

The purchase was recent, one that Fran made two days ago. After she gave Porlyusica the staff, she used the gold she had under her mansion to buy the abandoned manor on a hill in the middle of town.

Yeah, Fran said something along the lines of 'a vampire that needs a job isn't a vampire at all!' so she brought enough money so we wouldn't need to work for ten years.

"I mean...you bought a manor, of course, people are going to notice." Mira pressed her hand against her cheek. "Still, it's pretty strange. Buying something so expensive and not telling anyone, isn't that the type of thing that people brag about?"

"Eh," I shrugged, or rather I attempted to pass off the whole thing as not a big deal. "If I told you guys you'd just come bursting through my door and mooch off of me."

Mira's eyes widened before she laughed. "That's true. Still, you're a pretty mysterious person. If you keep this up, people are going to start spreading rumors about you."

Mysterious? I could describe myself as a lot of things, but mysterious was not one of them. Even as a vampire, I felt like the events that led me to that point were rather mundane.

"...I should be going," I lifted myself from my seat. I heard someone throw a mug. I didn't want to get myself wrapped up in a signature Fairy Tail brawl.

Mira seemed disappointed, "well before you go, can you at least tell me where you are going for your vacation?"

I paused, Fran and me had already picked our next target, which was luckily in Fiore. I didn't know if it was smart to tell Mira the location; however, while it may seem innocent at first if something went down, it could be traced back to me.

"I haven't decided yet..." I said.

Mira then just let out a sigh. "You're a terrible liar. You know that?"

"Y-you could tell that fast?" I didn't even try to hide the fact that I was indeed lying.

The white-haired made then smiled. "Someone honest like you probably wouldn't be able to get away with lying unless you thought you were telling the truth."

I decided to take her words as a compliment. "If you know that much, then you should also know that it'd be convenient for me if you didn't ask where I was going."

Mira then closed her eyes. "I get it, but wherever you are going, be careful..."

Now I felt terrible, even if I got an uneasy energy from Mira it did seem like she cared. "Don't worry; it's just a vacation. I'm sure there is nothing to worry about." There was probably plenty to worry about, but I wasn't going to tell Mira that.

"Have fun!" Mira smiled, which prompted me to finally leave before I got wrapped up in the brawl that was happening behind my back. I slipped out of the front door before I sighed.

"I guess I should get back to the manor," I whispered to myself, but unfortunately it seemed I would have to deal with one more obstruction before I got home.

My feet stopped in their tracks as I noticed a red-head heading towards the direction of the guild. The armor instantly told me it was Erza.

I mean, I thought it was Erza. I never spoke to her directly, unlike say Natsu or Mira I decided early on that the knight probably wasn't someone I should cross.

Still, despite my best attempts, we were on the same road walking in opposite directions, which meant we were going to pass one another. I decided to shift my eyes to the side when we grew closer.

Just when the awkwardness was at an all-time high, Erza stopped, forcing me to curse under my breath. If I kept walking now that she stopped, it could easily be considered rude, but I also didn't want to talk to her.

"We never properly introduced ourselves to one another," Erza said bluntly, her scarlet hair waving in the wind.

"..."

How was I supposed to respond to that? That wasn't how you started a conversation with someone you have never spoken to before. One usually would make small talk or at least have a proper segway.

"Ah, well, you were there when I joined the guild, right? So there isn't a rea-"

"That's not good enough." Erza cut me off. "I want to know who you are, where come from, and why you wanted Lullaby!"

I slumped my shoulders. Erza probably wanted to interrogate me right from the start. Though, I wasn't too keen about giving that information away so freely.

"Well, I'm Armel, though you probably already knew that," I answered the first question. "I'm not from anywhere important, and the only reason I wanted Lullaby was for decoration."

The last bit was a blatant lie, but really, I had no clue how the conversation was even going to end. Bluntness could only go so far, did Erza honestly believe I was going to spill my guts just because she asked?

I expected her to freak out or demand to know, but her reaction was far more subdued. The red-head crossed her arms and closed her eyes, almost like she was thinking of a response. "Decoration, I suppose something like that could work as one."

"..."

Oh, she believed me. At first, I thought it was some trick for me to lower my guard, but the longer she pondered, the more I realized she was genuine.

I bit the inside of my cheek. "Um, Erza, don't you think that's a little weird? That someone would want a demon flute to hang on a wall?" I decided to breakdown my excuse, mostly because I refused to accept a reality that anyone would believe that.

"It is," Erza said before she crossed her arms. She then glared straight at me, causing me to wonder if she was going to say something harsh. "But, you don't seem like the type of person that would use it for its intended purpose."

That was a rather large assumption Erza was making about my character. Even if I took it as a compliment, she barely knew anything about me, not only that...

"Oy, don't glare at someone if you are going to say something nice about them." I don't know if Erza wanted to mess with me or not, but she didn't seem like the type that would joke around.

"Sorry, I simply get agitated when I don't get the answers I want."

"Don't admit something like that so casually!" If there was one thing I could get from Erza was that she was not only blunt but also a bit awkward.

"By the way Arm, despite being in the guild for four days, you haven't taken any quests." Erza pointed out.

"Please don't cut off the end of my name like that," I said. "Plus I don't need the money. I figured I let other members handle it, if I need a job I'll take one outside of the guildhall."

I instantly could tell by the look on Erza's face she wasn't satisfied with that answer. "I won't let you use kindness as an excuse for laziness. I can tell just by examining your face. You're the type that would horde your talents and wealth to yourself, without sharing it with your guildmates!"

"Eh? What's with that insult?" Once again, she was making some rash judgments based on the few interactions we had. "Mira told me that it's not against the rules."

Erza then closed her eyes, "that is right. I suppose our conversation is over then."

"Don't just end a conversation so bluntly!"

Erza then slowly lifted her eyelids once again. "Oh, one more thing...thank you."

I was confused. I hadn't done anything that would require Erza to thank me. "What for?"

"For what you did for Chico, I heard what happened, but I never got the chance to thank you for it properly."

"That?" I scratched the back of my head. "That happened days ago. You don't need to thank me for it now."

Once again, the look in the knight's eyes told me she was unsatisfied with my response. "Accept my words of gratitude without further question."

Even if I wanted to refuse them, I had a feeling it'd be more trouble than it's worth. "Sure," I replied. The moment that escaped my lips Erza continued on her way, not even attempting to give a closing statement or anything.

In a span of a single conversation, I was complimented, insulted, and thanked, all of which happened with complete earnest on Erza's part.

"She's a weird one no doubt," I whispered under my breath. She didn't seem like a bad person, but I had a hunch that the two of us wouldn't get along if we were forced to interact.

Regardless I pushed my encounter with Erza to the back of my head. I walked the streets of Magnolia town, the more I walked, the fewer people I saw. The manor that Fran bought was technically in town, but it was so out of the way it might have well been on the outskirts.

After nearly thirty minutes of walking, I made it to the manor. It was on a steep hill, with no other buildings surrounding it. The worn wood and brick that made up the structure showed its age.

This place was creepy...

There was no getting around that. If I saw someone walk into it, I knew I would start questioning their humanity. Though I suppose it was my punishment for letting Fran pick.

I walked up the grassy incline before I pressed my hand against the dusty door cracking it open. Despite the outside being in disarray, the inside was rather tidy. I should know since I did most of the work making it at least livable.

I looked around the main room of our home. The furniture was somewhat old and cheap. I wouldn't have been surprised if it belonged to the previous owner.

"Where's Fran?" I looked around. I then felt a shiver run down my spine. From the corner of my eye, I noticed something crawling along the ceiling like a spider. Before I could react, something jumped on my back.

"Welcome back, young man." Fran black hair covered my eyes. "Did you finish your little errand?"

I quickly brushed Fran's hair out of my eyes. "Yeah, I couldn't up and leave for days without telling anyone." Even if I had just joined the guild, it'd be pretty rude to do something like that.

"I suppose it's less suspicious to tell someone you are going out then it is just to leave," Fran replied before she jumped off my back, landing on a nearby chair. Or at least, that is what she attempted to do because the moment her feet touched the wooden piece of furniture, it collapsed like cardboard.

Fran winced as her butt hit the floor. Typically I would have held back my laugh, but since she was the one that insisted we keep the old furniture I had to tease her a little.

"Maybe we should get some new furniture unless you also want to wait until our table collapses too."

Fran pouted. "There's no need. I merely have to be careful where I land."

"Just like we don't need a refrigerator?" I cocked my brow. Most fridges ran on a cheap ice lacrima. It'd probably wouldn't have been too hard to at least get a small one to put in the manor.

Fran scoffed. "Why waste time on something so worthless, we don't eat human food. If you want to eat for pleasure, then we can go to a restaurant."

I sighed, I decided to wait to counter that point since the entire conversation was building to something. "Just like we don't have any light lacrimas?"

"Those would also be pointless, we can see in the dark perfectly."

"That's not really the point," I said, pressing my finger against the small vampire's forehead. "What if someone wanted to come over? This manor isn't a place where a normal human could live."

Fran had always gone on about keeping up appearances. I'd figure she'd put at least a bit more effort into making the manor look, presentable.

Fran ran her fingers through her hair before she dusted off her skirt. "We'll worry about that once we get back from our trip." She changed the topic. She then walked towards the nearby as she placed her hands between the nearby cushions, with a slight tug she pulled out a familiar map and handed it to me.

"Since I'm technically not apart of Fairy Tail I can't read the map." Fran closed one of her eyes while I unraveled the piece of paper.

The map itself seemed almost ethereal. Not only would it hone in on locations at a press, but it would even track individual targets we had our eyes on. Whatever Fran and Porlyusica did to make it, it must have been impressive.

"It's this town, right?" I pointed to the glowing spot, which prompted Fran to nod.

We had decided to target demons located within Fiore for the time being. Be it big or small, everyone she devoured would put her one step closer to the vampire she used to be. Though I wondered, what would Fran even do once she got her strength back?

"That town is about a six-hour trip from here, though that'd be closer to an hour for us." Fran tug on the map, urging me to set it on the ground so she could get a better look. "Huh, that's where the dark guild Ghoul Spirits used to set up shop."

I couldn't help but let out a groan. "Another dark guild we're going to have to worry about?"

Fran shook her head. "I doubt it, they have long since moved to a new town unless they went back within the last thirty years I can't imagine any of the members still being there."

"How can you be so sure?" While I usually was confident in Fran's judgment, she still tended to make a few miscalculations here or there.

"Because I slaughtered over eighty-percent of the guild around sixty years ago."

Yep, that would do it. I kept forgetting just how old Fran was, though it seemed every interaction she had with someone besides Porlyusica ended in murder.

"Hey Fran, do you know how many people you've killed?" Reflecting upon it, that was a stupid question to ask. Made even worse by Fran's reaction to said question.

I expected her to laugh and give a vague number, or make a joke about it, but that didn't happen. Instead, she gave me a strangely empty look like her brain had shut off for a second.

"I don't know, a lot, sometimes in anger, sometimes for fun. I try not to think about the number too much because when I do, I feel...heavy."

The lack of any emotion in her voice word like weights strapped to my limbs, in Fran's mind, she was stating a fact of what she remembered.

"A-anyway, we're leaving tonight, right?" This time I was the one that changed the subject. "If it is only going to take us an hour to get there I can't see the trip lasting more than a day or two."

Fran scoffed, "don't be so sure. Just because we know where a demon is doesn't mean it'll be easy to catch. We were lucky with Lullaby since it was stuck in its flute form; other demons won't be that easy."

The fact that Fran considered anything about the events that transpired with Lullaby lucky showed just how different our mindsets were.

"Well, I guess I'll take your word for it." I rolled up the map before I placed it in my pocket. "I still wish there was an easy way to capture them."

The moment I said that Fran's eyes narrowed. "We did have an extra tag, but _someone _used it to save a human."

I bit my bottom lip. "Yeah...sorry,"

"Don't just apologize like that!" Fran snapped. "Not only did you waste a tag, the demon you sealed was a ghost, I can't eat a ghost Armel!"

Once again, she made a few good points. "L-listen, I had to help her; let's just leave it at that."

Fran flipped her hair one last time, as she headed into one of the many empty rooms in the manor. "Oh, by the way, I'll be teaching you the laser eye spell while we hunt for the next demon."

My body stiffened before a wave of excitement overtook me, "Really!"

"Geez," Fran shifted her body as if to defend herself from my sudden outburst. "I suppose the faster I teach this to you, the quicker you'll stop acting like that."

"You should have taught it to me in the first place!" I cried out, "by the way you never told me the name of the spell."

The moment that thought escaped my lips, Fran froze. "L-like I said, you do not need to worry about the name."

I waved my arm, "yeah, but I should still know it right? Even if it's not the type of spell I need to call out, it's important to keep track of this sort of thing."

Truthfully if Fran never mentioned that the name was silly, I wouldn't have been pressing to find out. It was sort of like when someone pointed out there is something dangerous in a jar in the corner of the room.

Sure I wasn't interested before, but now that I know that there is something in it, I had to know. It was the same with the name of the spell.

It seemed that Fran picked up on that, "ah very well." She brushed her hair to the side. "The name of the spell is, Sharp Tearing Pew Pew Eyes."

"..." For a moment, all the possible responses that I thought of fell out of my brain. The name wouldn't have been terrible without the pew pew, which made me wonder if Fran was lying.

"S-say something young man!" The way that Fran's cheeks were turning a bright red told me that she indeed was telling the truth.

"W-what kind of name is that?!" It sounded like a toddler created it. A spell that could cut through diamond like paper, the spell that saved Fran and me at least two times...had that name.

Fran wiped her mouth, trying to erase the name from her lips. "S-see, this is why I did not wish to say it! I am going to finish packing so I can forget this whole ordeal."

With that, the vampire slipped into the next room like a snake that had its pride shattered.

Still, while the name of the spell was hilarious, Fran's reaction to it was even more so. So, at that moment, I decided.

"The first time I use that spell I'm going to shout the name as loud as possible." I wanted to do just so I could see the look on Fran's face when I did.

**Author note**

**A slight in between chapter. I feel that when a lot of people write Erza, they don't get a lot of her awkwardness down, especially before the Tower of Heaven arc. So I decided to have a little fun with the conversation, that and contrast it with the discussion with Mira.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**The Great Vampire Detective **

"This city...smells," I stated bluntly, a thick fog covered all the buildings and houses. I swore it seemed like a town from one of Chico's horror novels than a place people would live.

"It's always been like this," Fran replied, her legs on my shoulders while she rested her elbows on my head. "Due to the humidity, the town is always covered in a thick haze. It doesn't affect us much since we can see through it."

I suppose if it could only benefit us, I had no right to complain about it. Still, now that we were here, how would we even go about finding the demon we were looking for?

The map gave us the city, but no more detail besides that. Meaning we would have to search for it manually.

"So..." Fran paused. "What to head to the bar?"

"Eh? Isn't asking that right off the bat a little much?" I snapped. "We should try to find an inn we can stay at first or something."

Fran tugged on my hair before she flipped off my shoulders, landing elegantly. "Isn't that just a distraction? The inn won't vanish if we check the town first unless you are getting tired of carrying my bags."

My eyes just narrowed while I slumped my shoulders. It was less about getting tired and more about how cumbersome it was to walk around with a bunch of stuff in my hands. Truthfully I was being a bit lazy.

"Fine, we can go to the bar first. After that, we'll take a look around while we find an inn." I felt like it was a decent compromise.

Fran nodded before the two of us started walking through the murky city. Some townfolks wandered around, but besides them, the city seemed eerily empty. If it were a tiny village in the middle of nowhere, it wouldn't be cause for alarm, but having such a big city empty...

Regardless it didn't take us long to reach one of the many bars that littered the city. The moment we took a step inside the atmosphere completely changed. The bar was lively with patrons walking about and chatting to one another, a far cry to the dead streets we just came from.

Though that just made the empty streets even stranger. I tightened my grip around our bags as Fran, and I took a seat. I suppose the only thing we could do at that point was people watch.

I looked around the tavern. Most of them were just the usual bargoers. No one too exciting, no one except a girl that was sitting in the corner taking a sip of what I assumed was milk. She looked about 17 or 18, but her age wasn't the issue, it was what she was wearing.

It was an extravagant dress, and I wasn't talking a summer dress or a skirt. It had frills and ribbons tied all around her body, the skirt itself went past her kneecaps with nearly two layers. It even included a choker. I would go so far as to call it tacky, though considering it was something that Fran would wear I kept that part to myself.

Still, my eyes stayed glued to her, and it seemed that Fran took notice since she too started to stare at the strange patron.

"Those clothes," Fran whispered under her breath.

Just when I was about to ask her what she wanted to say the strange green-haired girl returned our gaze. Her eyes were a deep-red, something oddly familiar.

We stared at one another for a good minute, perhaps, like me, she hoped that the other would be the first one to break the staredown.

Then without warning, she stood up. Like she had to use the bathroom or something, but instead of heading to the restroom, she was heading straight to the table.

I suppose if someone were staring at me for over a minute, I'd walk over too...no I wouldn't, but it was still a natural reaction.

"Oh me, oh my, what do we have here?" The green-haired girl closed one of her eyes, placing her hand on our table. "The second group of travelers to enter this misty city."

Her speech patterns were needlessly flowery. Like she was trying her best to make the current situation far grander than it was.

Fran closed one of her eyes, letting out a deep sigh. "I hate coy people just as much as I hate theatergoing, what do you want vampire?" The bluntness of Fran's statement took me aback for a moment, even more so than the realization that the woman standing in front of us was indeed a vampire.

"How rude?" The extravagant dress-wearing woman pouted. "It's in poor taste to give away someones true nature in their introduction chapter, after all. If the butler is the culprit, the mystery falls apart if they make it obvious."

I frowned, "so you're a vampire too?" I decided to whisper those words pointing to the seat next to me. I suppose it was only a matter of time until we ran into another one of our kind. Then again, the meeting was rather abrupt, no build-up or anything, just a strange-looking woman hanging out in a bar.

"We did just say that no?" The green-haired girl waved her hands. "No worries, I love repeating things, even more so if the person is dim-witted."

There was no denying that was an insult. "So, Miss Tacky Dress, what brought you over here?"

"No reason..." The twin-tailed girl finally took a seat. "It's always nice to enjoy a drink with your fellow monsters non?"

Great not only was she weird, but it seemed that she knew a little the Caelum language. I knew that because I also knew it due to my mother teaching me.

"Isn't it a bit tacky to mix languages like that?" I said which prompted the woman to laugh.

"Tu as remarqué? Très bien!"

I groaned. "Yeah I noticed, now please stop doing it."

I looked over to Fran, who had a look of growing irritation. "If you two have to talk to one another, I'd prefer you do it in either Fiore language or Seven language."

The woman then laughed. "Sorry, I must have gotten too excited. To get back to the subject at hand, you two must be dying to know who I am..."

"Not really," I said something that was admittedly rude, but for some reason, I couldn't help myself. Everything about her was so obnoxious it was hard not to react in such away.

"Bien!" Even though both of us asked her not to do it, she slipped back into her native tongue. "My name is Marie-Claude Levasseur, though you may either call me Marie or Claude maybe even Levasseur."

She found a not too subtle way to repeat her name twice. "My name is Armel Mace, and this is..." I looked over to Fran, wondering how exactly how I would introduce her. Should I use her full name, or just use the nickname that I had given her.

"Fran," the small black-haired vampire responded.

Marie tapped her chin, her gaze focused on Fran, more specifically, Fran's head. "Ah, your ears are slightly pointy non? Despite being in such a form, you must be older than you look."

Vampires ears do not become pointed until the ten-year mark. At least that is what Fran told me, and while it wasn't the most accurate way to tell a vampire's age. It did separate the rookies from the more experienced ones.

"What about you?" I said, taking note of her more rounded ears. "You must not have been a vampire for long right?"

Marie gritted her teeth, showing the first bit of irritation since we started our conversation. "Enough, enough about that. As a detective, I shall be blunt. What are two wandering vampires doing in a town like this hmm?"

Was she a detective now? Still, vampire or not, I couldn't just give out that sort of information. "Just looking for something..." It was vague, far too vague for any so-called detective to accept that answer.

"Everyone is looking for something," Marie's nose curled. "Though what I wish to know if we are looking for the same thing..."

"..." Neither me nor Fran responded.

"D'accord, perhaps if I reveal a bit of information about what I seek, it will loosen those tight lips of yours." Fran lifted a single finger, "after all. The detective should have nothing to hide in the story."

I wanted to say that it was alright. Mostly because if Marie did share what she was looking for with us, then it'd be only fair that we'd do the same. At least that is how my brain rationalized what was happening.

"I am interested in a magical weapon known as Point Anchor. My master sent me to find it, and the two of us suspect it is somewhere within the confines of this city."

"It's...not demonic in nature is it?" I figured I'd get that question out of the way right off the bat.

"Non, non, I am sure if it were my master would have told me. It is just an item that my teacher wishes to add to her collection."

Fran crossed her arms, despite her somewhat guarded body-language it seemed the small vampire was willing to engage the so-called detective.

"By the way, Marie, what is your master's name?" Fran asked.

The moment Fran uttered those words, a broad grin appeared across the green-haired detective's face. "Tola Dubos, surely as a vampire you must have heard of her by now."

Fran let out a sigh. "That woman, I never thought she'd take a student as well."

Whoever this Tola Dubos person was, it seemed that Fran at least knew her in passing.

"So, now that the detective revealed her secrets won't you do the same?" Marie closed one of her eyes before she lifted her finger. The way she phrased her question made it seem like she believed she was in some detective novel.

I bit the inside of my cheek. I glanced over to Fran, who seemed somewhat disinterested in the conversation. "We're here looking for a demon..." I kept my voice down, though I had a feeling that no one besides the vampires at our table would hear me.

Marie's eyes widened. "Je vois, I suppose that means you are interested in the strange murders that have occurred in the past two weeks non?"

Just like that, the casual conversation turned rather grim. "Could you go into more detail?" Fran did tell me that not all the demons we would encounter would be inactive, or even all created by Zeref. Fran made it a point to say to me that Lullaby was an outliner to the rule.

"It started two weeks ago," Marie said, getting straight to the point. "Apparently between that time and now, up to five bodies have been discovered, cut up and half-devoured."

Yep, that is indeed what I would call a strange murder. And certainly, not one that a human would do to another human. "I guess that's the reason why no one is walking the streets right now?"

It was the middle of the day, but the fog was so thick that if you went out alone, you would be dragged away by a demon. At least that is why assumed the bar was so filled up despite the time.

"Oui, but that's not all. Despite the carnage, there wasn't a single speck of blood at the scene of the murders."

"What?" Fran, who seemed somewhat uninterested in the conversation up to that point jolted herself awake.

Once again, Marie smiled, but this time it was closer to a lizard revealing its fangs rather than one of excitement. "You must have realized it non? There is only one type of creature that would not leave a single trace of blood."

Vampire, that would be the only creature that would both tear apart their victim while also completely draining it of blood. At least that is what I gleaned from how Fran and I ate.

"So...you're saying there might be another vampire around killing people?" I gritted my teeth. I knew it was just the natural law of things, just like how humans feed on livestock vampires fed on humans.

"Still, this isn't normal," Fran interjected. "While human blood does taste better than animals, no vampire would run the risk of getting found out so quickly. They would, at the very least, space out their meals or supplement them with other creatures."

I ignored how dehumanizing it was for Fran to refer to the victims as meals. "Why are you tell us this? We're vampires too right, for all you know we could be the culprits."

The moment I said that Marie nearly broke out in a fit of laughter. "Oh s'il te plait, if I may be blunt, you are far too much of a weenie to do such a thing. First of all, I doubt the culprit would wander into a bar so casually."

I couldn't help but find the irony in Marie's words considering we were three vampires having a conversation in a bar. "Do you think this vampire has the anchor or whatever?"

Marie shrugged. "Je n'ai aucune idée, there are quite a bit of moving parts in this case. There are a few members of a dark guild hanging around the city as well, along with three mages from Fairy Tail."

"Fairy Tail?" I was caught off-guard when Marie brought up that name.

"Hmm? Are you familiar with that guild?" Marie asked, forcing me to advert my gaze.

"You...could say that." It was in my best interest to keep the fact that I was a Fairy Tail member to myself.

"Regardless, the reason I shared so much with you is that I want you to keep an eye out for the Point Anchor," Marie finally brought the topic back around. "If you do, I shall return the favor with the demon."

Fran pouted. "So you want us to act as your lackeys?"

Marie giggled. "Non mademoiselle, three heads are better than two in these sorts of situations. Plus, as a detective, it is my job to use any tools available to peel away lies and reveal the one and only truth."

Once again, it felt like she was putting far too much power into her words.

"Alright, we'll help you out. You don't seem like the type that would double-cross us." It wasn't like we were making a pact to be life long friends or anything. Just a simple deal to keep an eye out for what we needed.

"Bien~." Marie let her words drag as she stood up. "Now if you excuse me, I must do some more investigating."

With that, Marie left us. Once I knew the detective was out of ear-shot, my body relaxed. "Geez, what a weirdo."

Fran pressed her finger against the table. "That is to be expected if she is one of Tola students. Either way, it seemed that I was correct in heading to this bar."

I raised my brow. It seemed that Fran wanted to brag a little. "Aren't you taking too much credit for something that came down to luck?"

After all, there was no way for us to know that there was a random vampire detective just sitting in a bar. In fact, from the hundreds of possibilities that one would have been the furthest from my mind.

"Perhaps, but since we've been having rather good luck lately, I figured we should push it." Fran chuckled.

"I wouldn't call any of this situation lucky..." If what Marie said was true, we had to worry about a vampire, Ghoul Spirits, and even potential Fairy Tail mages. At the rate we were going, it was going to be a repeat of the Lullaby situation.

"By the way, since you've spent time with that Fairy Tail guild, do you have any idea who the three mages could be?" Almost like Fran was reading my mind

"Not at all." My response was blunt. "If they are already here then they probably weren't there when I joined." It would have been silly to expect every single member to be in the guildhall at once.

"If that is the case, what will you do if we encounter them?" Fran said before she stood up.

"Nothing, I want to avoid them if possible." I wanted to keep my vampire life, and my guild life separated. Trying to connect the two would cause more problems for both me and Fran in the long run.

We exited the tavern making our way to the nearest inn. It didn't take long for us to find a cheap room. We probably could have stayed at a more expensive place, but Fran figured it'd draw too much attention to ourselves if we did.

I placed our stuff on the old wooden floor before taking a seat on the bed. The dingy room wasn't too different from the manor that Fran had picked out for us. "So what do we do now?"

Fran stretched before she jumped on the bed. The moment she did a giant cloud of dust filled the room, signaling that the sheets probably hadn't been changed in a while.

"..." Fran stopped as if she was wondering if she should comment on the dust or ignore it. "A-anyway, if we are going to continue to look around, I suggest we split up."

"Are you sure?" I knew Fran would be able to handle herself. At the very least I knew she'd be able to escape any situation she would find herself in.

"Oh?" Fran's lips curled. "Were those three days alone so traumatizing to you that you can't bear the thought of being separated again?"

"Don't say it like that, you're making me sound pathetic," I said.

"If that's the case, there shouldn't be a problem." The black-haired vampire then jumped off the mattress before pulling a few strands of hair out of her hair.

They then turned into something like ink which seeped into my shadow. "Like before, if you need me, just call my name."

She had used this spell before all the way back when we first met. I never really had the chance to ask how it worked. Unfortunately right before I asked Fran had opened the room's window.

"Don't just do that without any warning..." I said. "Plus if someone sees you, they might get the wrong idea of what's happening in this room."

A young girl crawling out of hotel bedroom isn't exactly something people wouldn't notice.

"Do not worry, if someone's asks I'll just say we're engaged."

"That doesn't make it better at all!" I raised my voice, which caused Fran to chuckle. With that, the two-hundred-year-old vampire crawled out of the room, leaving me alone.

I groaned. "Well, Fran said if I needed her just call her name." I dusted myself before I shut the window and exited the room.

Once I was out of the building proper, I started to think where the best places to look would be. The obvious answer would be other hotels and inns in the city.

From there, I would start searching a few back-alleys. Even if I wanted to avoid trouble, the fact that I was hunting a demon would make that impossible.

I walked through the foggy empty streets. Every time I took a step, it felt like some mysterious force copied me. The entire area was so covered that if I weren't a vampire, I wouldn't be able to see someone sneaking up on me before it was too late.

After searching for a while, I finally noticed something out of place. I quickly ducked behind a nearby building, poking my head from the corner. In my line of sight was someone else doing the exact thing.

In front of me was a woman with short white hair. Her head was turned so I couldn't make out her eyes, but she was dressed in what I would call sporting wear. Something that a person would wear in if they were running a marathon.

Though that wasn't the oddest thing about her clothing, the strangest thing was the mask that covered the bottom part of her face. It was so out of place with the rest of the outfit; it made me wonder if it served a purpose.

That was until I remembered there was a vampire on the loose. The woman could have very well have been that vampire.

My eyes narrowed while my nails dug into the stone. There was no one else around if I was going to attack her now would be the best time. I could also call Fran, but that would have given away my location.

So I decided to do the proper thing, and crawl up the side of the building like a spider, keeping just high enough to stay out of view. I clung to the side while I examined the suspect.

"Damn, I still can't see her eyes." I cursed myself, not only that, but the fog was too thick. The sunlight wasn't reaching down to the streets properly, which meant I couldn't tell if it was reflecting off her skin or not.

The woman's body shifted like she was checking to see if anyone had followed her before she continued on her way. I decided to do the same, keeping out of sight.

Even if she wasn't the culprit, she had to have been hiding something of interest. Though the closer I got, the more I realized that she most likely wasn't a vampire.

Still, there was only one way to be sure. I decided to overtake her clinging to the building she chose to hide behind next. I was directly above her, clinging to the wall she had placed her back against.

All I had to do was wait until she moved her head to see her eyes. At least that is what I hoped until I noticed something falling from the wall I was clinging to.

It was pebbles, pebbles fell from the wall that I was stuck too falling on the white-haired woman's hair. My body tensed as the girl let out a squeak.

The white-haired woman rubbed her head. "What was th-" Her blue-eyes shifted upward to meet mine.

To say I was in a bad spot would be an understatement. I was clinging to a wall like some sort of demon, the fog most covering most of my features to her. I wouldn't be surprised if the only thing she would be able to make out were my glowing red eyes.

Still, she hadn't run away yet. There was always a chance I could defuse the situation. So I decided to say the first thing that popped into my head.

"Y-yo."

"..."

Without saying a word, the woman started to run.

"D-damn it!" I kicked off the building dashing towards her. It took me less than a second to cut her off. "Isn't breaking into a sprint like that really bad for your legs?"

I attempted to crack a joke, but I had a feeling my comment just put her more on edge.

"Y-you're..." The woman took a step back, I could feel her eyes scanning me. "You must be that monster that's been eating people..."

"That's not exactly true," I said. I had a feeling that my words were most likely not going to be enough to convince her.

My thoughts were confirmed as she started to pivot her foot to start running again. When she did my eyes widened, "why don't you just sit down..."

The moment I said that demand her body stiffened. "Sure..." Without even hesitating, she sat right on the ground. "Wait, what?"

I didn't like using Direct Charm like that, but if I hadn't, she would have just kept trying to escape.

"Sorry about that," I said, walking up to her. I then quickly removed the mask she was wearing and examined the three central parts of the human figure.

Her face, her legs and most importantly her boobs...of course I had a feeling that last part wasn't right,

"Huh, you really aren't a vampire..."

"Of course, I'm not a vampire!" She snapped. "The only vampire here is you!"

I mean she was right, but there was something strange about the woman in front of me. From her hair to her eyes, she bore an uncomfortable resemblance to Mira.

"What's your name?" I asked bluntly.

The white-haired girl frowned. "What kind of question is that? Do you normally force a girl on her knees before asking her name?"

My eyes narrowed, now she was just being a smartass. "I'll let you go if you tell me your name."

The girl pursed her lips. "It's Ann."

Such a generic name... "Is that really your name?"

"Nope!"

"Don't just admit to lying like that!" I pointed to her, nearly stomping my feet.

"Too bad," Ann puffed up her cheeks. "I won't give my real name even if you threaten to kill me."

I bit the inside of my cheek. "Fine, so Ann, what are you doing here?"

This time it was Ann's eyes that narrowed. "Didn't you just say you would let me go if I gave you my name?"

"Yeah, and since you didn't, I'm not letting you go." For some reason, I felt like a warden talking to a prisoner.

Ann gritted her teeth, once again she attempted to move her legs, but to no avail. "F-fine, I was following the group of mages from Fairy Tail."

"Huh, why would yo-"

"There she is!" I heard a shout come from behind me. I slowly turned my head to see about five men, all carrying different types of weapons.

"Damn, I thought I lost them," Ann cursed.

"Lost who?" I questioned.

"Those guys are from Ghoul Spirits, I had a run-in with them the other day."

Just my luck. I wanted to avoid getting another dark guild involved with my affairs, but it seemed that the universe had another plan for me.

"Come on..." I sighed, grabbed the girl by the gruff of her shirt.

"W-what are you doing!" She snapped as I slung her on my back like an old backpack.

"I'm not fighting these guys here, but I'm also not going to leave you here."

Ann raised her brow. "Huh, I figured you would be eviler than that. Unless you are saving me just to eat me later!"

It was impossible to tell if she was making a joke or not, regardless I started to run immediately gaining distance between us and the Ghoul Spirit members.

As I ran, Ann's body flying in the wind, she managed to choke out a few words. "B-by the way, what's your name?"

"Armel..." I decided to at least give her my first name.

"Armel?" She repeated. "Isn't that like, one letter way from being a girl's name?"

If I were a pot steam probably would have been coming out of my ears at that moment. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it, girly!"Ann laughed. It seemed that once she realized I wasn't a threat, she decided to tease me.

Once again I was ropped into another conflict with some weirdo. At the very least, I hoped I was able to get some information out of Ann.

**Author's note.**

**Man two new characters introduced. I honestly sort of regret giving Marie the whole french gimmick. Even if it is apart of her character, writing that every time she speaks is going to be annoying.**

**Perhaps I will cut back on it in later chapters and only do it when she is really excited.**

**Also, I wonder how many people will guess who Ann is?**

**She wasn't really supposed to be introduced this arc, but I decided why not?**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 **

**Something that seems to happen often**

"I think we lost them..." I stared down the side of the building. Despite how fast I went, it seemed that Ann managed to keep her grip.

"You think?" The white-haired girl groaned. "I thought my bones were going to liquefy with how fast you ran."

I placed Ann down before I sighed. "I released Direct Charm so that you can move around again."

The moment I said that Ann shot to her feet, a part of me expected to try and run away, but she was oddly calm. Maybe her reaction was due to her being on top of a building with no feasible way down.

"Thanks for that, I thought I was going to need a wheelchair or something," Ann said while she stretched."Anyway Armelia, what are you doing here?"

"Don't change my name into something feminine!" I snapped. I felt like she was trying to sneak a joke past me. "Besides, I'm the one who should be asking you that..." She said she was stalking the Fairy Tail members that were in town.

Ann held back a chuckle. "I was looking for someone, and I was hoping they would lead me to them." Ann then peeked over the side of the building. "Though, I suppose that was wishful thinking."

That wasn't a lot of information to go off of, but I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to wring out more unless I had something to bargain with.

"I guess you're not going to tell me who you're looking for and what connection they have to Fairy Tail?"

"Nope!" Ann grinned like she was teasing me with her defiance. "Just because you helped me doesn't mean I'm going to spill the beans. If I screw this up, I might never get home!"

Despite her best attempts to play smart, she ended up giving some information away. Now I knew she wanted to get home. Did she accidentally fall asleep on a cruise ship and ended up in another country? For some reason, I wouldn't put it past her.

"I guess that's not important," I replied. "I'm honestly more interested in your connection with Ghoul Spirits." We could talk about her problems later, right now we should focus on the dark-guild that was chasing her.

"Um, that..." Ann's eyes fell. The woman that once glowed with confidence seemed to have been showing a hint of regret. "That's also complicated."

"I see," I said, closing my eyes. I then leaned my foot onto the corner of the roof.

"Eh? Where are you going?" Ann asked. I just turned my head to face her, looking up at the sky that had been bloated out by the endless fog.

"There is no reason for me to stay with you if you aren't going to answer any of my questions," I said. "I'm sure you're going to find a way to track the Fairy Tail members while avoiding Ghoul Spirits."

I knew she wasn't, but I needed to find a way to push her. I wasn't going to get anywhere just by talking in circles.

Ann's body stiffened. The way she was looking at me told me she was weighing her options. I was a vampire after all, and while I knew I wasn't going to hurt her, it didn't mean Ann would go off with me.

"W-wait." Ann took a deep breath. "You drive a hard-bargain you know that, but if talking is all I need to get you to help me, then I'll loosen my lips."

So Ann opened her mouth like she was loosening her purse strings. "But not here..." Ann killed any momentum the conversation seemed to have had. "Why don't we go back to your place so we won't be out in the open like this."

Ann had a point. While I doubted any human would be able to see on the top of the buildings due to the fog. It was smarter to head back to the inn.

"Alright, I get it..." I said before I grabbed Ann's shirt collar once again. I then lifted her, like I was lifting some stray cat that had gotten in my trash.

"Eh?! Can't you lift me with more dignity than that?" Ann whined.

I shook my head. "Sorry, but if I carried you like a bride, a certain someone might get the wrong idea. Besides, isn't this better than having you hang off my back like a toddler?"

"No, it's not!" Ann quickly corrected. "If I had to pick between clinging to you like a toddler, and being dragged around like a dog I'd pick the former in a heartbeat!"

I wanted to talk with her a bit more, but I had a feeling our conversation would go on forever if we did. With my fingers still gripping her shirt, I slid down the side of the building. When I was running away from the Ghoul Spirit members, I made it a point not to wander too far.

Meaning the trip back to the inn was a rather pleasant one.

"Huh? Why are you staying in a place like this?" Ann asked, looking up at the rundown building. "I figured vampires would have enough money to stay someplace nice."

"I do," I replied. "It's just that I don't want to draw too much attention to myself."

It seemed that Ann was willing to buy that excuse as the two of us entered the inn. I noticed Ann holding back a sneeze as we entered the room me and Fran were staying in.

My eyes quickly scanned the four corners of the room. I hoped that Fran had returned from her search, but it seemed that she was still looking.

"By the way, where are you staying?" I asked the white-haired teen.

Ann smirked before she puffed up her chest with pride. "I've been sleeping out on the streets!"

"..."

"..."

"Idiot, don't say that like it's a good thing!" Sleeping outside in a foggy city where a killer was on the use was asking to be the next victim.

"It's not my fault," Ann pouted. "I ran out of money recently, and I haven't been able to get a lot of jobs while wandering around."

Was she a mage? I wouldn't put it past her. If she had connections to a guild, she probably had some magical ability. "So you can use magic?"

Ann scratched the back of her head. "Sort of, I think..." Her tone didn't inspire too much confidence. "I got the ability to use magic around two years ago when I came here."

Here...does she mean Fiore? There was a lot of countries on Earthland after all. Still, the way she phrased her answer was odd. Usually, just moving to a different country wouldn't cause someone to be able to use magic.

I suppose none of that was my business. "You said you know something about Ghoul Spirits. Could you give me a little more detail than that?"

Ann's eyes narrowed. Her body slumped like she had been told by her parents to eat her vegetables. "Isn't that too easy? I need a bit of compensation if you want that from me."

I grumbled. "If you want money I can give it to you." I knew Fran probably wouldn't want me battering with someone like her. At the same time, it's not like I had much of a choice.

Ann quickly waved her hands about, almost like she was knocking the non-existant money away. "Only idiots risk their lives for money."

I couldn't argue with that. "Then what do you want?"

Ann pressed her finger to her lips, a sly smile creeping onto her face. "I want protection from Ghoul Spirits, as well as a promise to deliver me to the Fairy Tail members!"

I frowned, that didn't seem like a fair exchange at all. A slight piece of information that I didn't even know would be helpful. Compare to pretty much agreeing to babysit a stranger.

"Unless you can guide me to what I'm looking for then I don't think I can agree to that."

Ann raised her brow before leaning back onto the sheets. "Ah, I guess you are right. Maybe if you tell me what you want, I can see if I know anything about it."

Maybe she was trying to poke me for more information. I needed to be careful with what I shared with her. Telling her that I was apart of Fairy Tail was off the table. If she were trying to avoid members, she'd probably cut ties with me then and there. I also couldn't tell her about the demon.

Then I remembered the weapon Marie mentioned. "Do you know of something called the Point Anchor?" I barely know any details about it, so asking the random white-haired girl if she knew anything was the next logical step.

"Point Anchor? What kind of word salad name is that?" Ann whined. "Though the Ghoul Spirit members did mention delivering something to their main guildhall."

That's right. Ghoul Spirit's guildhall wasn't located in this city, but somewhere else. So it wouldn't be unreasonable that they would stop here for a few days then deliver it properly.

"Do you know where they are keeping the item?" I asked.

Ann let out a huff. "That's the tough part. The location is apparently where their old guildhall used to be, but they didn't share it with me. They also don't share it with new members. So I suspect that even out of the Ghoul Spirit members that are here only a handful know the full story."

If that was the case, Ann wasn't useful at all. In fact, with that one simple statement, she probably had given me all the valuable information that she had. I could easily toss her out of my room and be done with it.

Despite that. "Alright, I'll help you out."

"Really?" Ann seemed a bit shocked. Perhaps even she realized that given what she knew, there was no reason for me to accept.

"Why not?" I replied. "Besides, you still have a bargaining chip."

"I do?"

Even though she attempted to be sly before it was clear, Ann wasn't all that bright. At least not when I compared her to Chico or Fran. Still, I wasn't going to spell it out for her if she didn't realize it yet.

"Don't worry about it, either way, we'll wait here until my partner comes back," I said, sitting on my bed. I didn't want to make any more moves until Fran came back.

Perhaps it would have been smart to call her, that was until I heard a knock at the window. "That might be her now..."

I made my way to the window before I froze. Looking directly at it, there was no one there. If it were Fran, she'd be clinging to the side of the building. A vampire like her wouldn't do something as mundane as toss a rock at the glass.

"Hey Ann, you stay here for a moment. I'm going to check something outside."

The white-haired woman didn't argue back. Instead, she stood up, making her way to a nearby closet. "I get it you want me to hide, right?"

"I didn't say that at all..." I slumped my shoulders, which prompted Ann to laugh.

"No need to be shy, I'll be rooting for you in this safety room!"

I didn't know which was worse, the fact she needed to find an excuse to hide. Or the fact that she considered the closet a safety room.

Though it seemed she was more hiding in fear of someone seeing her face, rather than the genuine concern of combat. I was starting to wonder if she was some lost princess.

Either way, I walked out of the inn and around back. Standing at the street were two men. From the look in their eyes, I could tell they weren't delivering magazines.

"I wouldn't mind talking this out..." I said. I was a bit tired of fighting members of dark guilds.

One of the men scoffed. "You got some nerve after you ran away with that girl we ended up being chewed out."

The other man nodded. "Yeah, if it weren't for our new member we probably wouldn't have been able to track you down."

I bit my bottom lip. My eyes then scanned the surrounding area. There was no one else around, meaning that I was free to use my abilities.

I lowered my body. I was going to try to end the battle as quickly as possible. Still, what would I do with them after I knocked them out? I don't think I could drag them to the nearest jail or anything.

Then again, I suppose it was something I'd worry about after I had defeated them. I decided to mark my first target closing the distance between him and me in an instant.

"W-wha-" I kneed him in the stomach before he could finish his statement. His body stiffened before he collapsed, falling unconscious.

"S-shit!" His friend attempted to pull out a dagger, but I decided to toss his knocked out friend at the dark mage. The moment the body made contact with him, he flew into the nearby wall. The force of the toss was enough to crack the brick that kept the structure up.

"Ah, maybe I went too far..." I figured I treat them the same way I handled Eisenwald, but that probably wasn't necessary.

I walked up to the two men. I then placed my fingers against their necks, checking for a pulse. "They're alive at the least." I let out a sigh of relief.

Now I just needed to find out what to do with them. If Fran were there, she'd tell me to kill them to do be done with the whole ordeal.

"Maybe I'll leave them be, and they'll forget on their own..." That was far too convenient. Just because the got knocked around for a bit didn't mean they'd completely forget the encounter.

"Shit, they know where me and Fran are staying now don't they?" The thought had just crossed my mind. It'd be tough for me and Fran to stay at the inn if we kept getting attacked.

Right, when I was devising a plan, I felt a shiver run down my spine. I turned my head to be greeted with someone standing directly behind me.

It was a slim man with long green hair. His outfit was...strange, to say the least, he looked like sort of military commander. Who was I kidding? I just talked to a vampire detective who looked like she just got a dress made by a doll maker. I was positive that everyone in Fiore got their clothes tailored made.

He walked straight past me, not even bothering to spare a glance. When he did, I took note of the green guild mark on his hand.

"He's a part of Fairy Tail..." I whispered under my breath while the man examined the two dark mages.

The green-haired man halted. His blue-eyes locking onto mine. "Did you do this?"

I suppose at that point there was no use in lying. "Yeah, they attacked me, so I defended myself." I didn't lie. I just kept out the majority of the truth.

Though from the way he reacted, it seemed that he bought it. No, instead he cared so little about my presence that it didn't matter if I was lying or not.

"This quest is for the Thunder Legion. I won't accept anyone else interfering."

I grumbled. It wasn't like I wanted to get involved with Ghoul Spirits or anything like that. "Don't worry. Someone already told me you guys were here," I replied. "I'm just investigating something, that's all."

I'll play the detective card for now.

The man didn't reply. Instead, his focus was drawn back to the two men. "Having to carry them myself would be an insult to my pride, but if it's for the quest, I have no qualms about it..."

Without saying another word, he lifted the two men like they were made of straw. It seemed the green-haired man was utterly prepared to leave the scene like that.

Still, something didn't sit well in the pit of my stomach. The gree-haired man was a part of Fairy Tail right? Up to that point, ever member I have met was at least cheerful. No, instead they had the will to do the right thing.

"You've...heard about the murders, right?" I asked bluntly. I didn't know why I was asking that.

"Yes, it's impossible not to be in this city and not hear about it." He said that so coldly.

I tried to search my thoughts for a response. "Don't you think you should do something about it?"

"We did not sign up for that quest." The green-haired man countered. "Solving a series of murders in a misty town isn't a job for mages, it's a job for a detective."

His response, for some reason, pissed me off. He was right, but to completely ignore a bunch of murders just because it wasn't on your to-do list...

"Using that logic, mages aren't that different from mercenaries, huh?" I suppose my jab was less than subtle. Then again, I'd have to dump myself into that category as well though I considered myself a vampire before a mage.

"Call us what you want," the man replied. "Either way...I'm happy someone is looking into them."

It was an odd shift in tone that I didn't expect. I hurriedly tried to respond, but the man seemed to have gotten bored with our conversation and left.

I stood there in the middle of the misty street. I knew someone must have heard the struggle from inside their homes, but no one dared to come out.

"That was Freed..."

My body flinched as I heard a voice call from above. I looked back up to the inn to see Ann. Well, I didn't see her, but rather the bedsheet that was covering her face.

"... Why do you have something like that over your head!"

"So no one can see my face!" Ann snapped back. "Voices can be disguised, but faces belong to people!" She said something so obvious I wanted to throw a rock at her.

"Nevermind that..." I shoved one of my hands in my pocket. "You said his name?"

"Yeah, it's Freed. I don't know his last name since that might be different."

Ann used odd phrasing once again, but I decided not to focus on that part too much. At the very least I wouldn't have to refer to him as the weird green-haired man.

"I guess I don't have to worry about the two Ghoul Spirit members going back to the guild..." I frowned. Still, a decent amount of time had passed since Fran left. Where the hell could she be?

**Author note**

**Some more information about Fran and Armel finally gets to meet Freed. Though it probably wasn't the best first impression from either of them**

**Would anyone be interested in a chapter through Fran's perspective?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Investigation**

I sat on the floor of our room. Ann was looking out the window like some cat waiting for its owner to return.

"Hey, vampire. I'm hungry, can you get me something to eat?" She asked bluntly.

"What? No!" I slumped my shoulder. It felt like she was missing the point of why we were there. "We're not going anywhere until my partner comes back."

I wasn't going to risk wandering around town, even more so now that I had to worry about Ann.

"Come on~." Ann turned her head and grinned. "If you do, I'll give you a reward."

"Really?" I raised my inflection to hide my sarcasm. "What kind of reward would someone who had to sleep on the street have for me?"

Ann winked. "If you get me something to eat, I'll let you feed me!"

"That's more reward for you than me!" I nearly shouted. "If you wanted to reward me, you'd let me put your bra on or something." I made an off-colored remark which forced Ann's nostrils to flare.

"Jokes on you, I don't wear those!" Ann's voice was filled with a kind of indescribable pride.

"Don't be so happy to admit something like that." I let out a defeated sigh. Just when I thought I was going to be stuck in the room with Ann for the rest of the day, I heard a tap at the window.

Both me and Ann turned to see Fran clinging to the window seal. Her red eyes were peering into the room like some sort of crazed bat.

"A-ack!" Ann nearly fell back while I got up and lifted the glass. From there Fran crawled headfirst back into our living space, her skirt somehow managing to avoid getting caught the wood.

"Hey Fran, I was waiting for you!" I smiled. Though it seemed that the black-haired vampire didn't share my excitement, instead her attention was drawn to Ann.

For a split second, I was worried that Fran might attempt to slit the blue-eyed girl's throat.

"Armel, who is this?" Fran's eyes dilated as if she had seen an enemy.

"S-she's someone I met who might have some information!" I tried to be as truthful as possible. I had a feeling if I attempted to introduce Ann as a friend it would have just made Fran even more suspicious.

Fran frowned. It seemed that even Ann understood the tension that was in the air.

"S-so is she your girlfriend or something. You must like y-young girls, huh?" Ann attempted a joke, but her words were only received with a cold glare.

"Does she know?" Fran asked. It didn't take a genius to figure out she was talking about the whole vampire thing.

"Yeah, sorry about that," I replied.

Then like a switch, the menacing air that Fran was giving off vanished. Instead, she childishly started to puff out her cheeks.

"You need to stop being so careless! Must I babysit you wherever you go?" Fran pressed her hands on hips, scolding me like a mother would.

I have had a pretty lousy track record of keeping my true nature a secret. "I'll do a better job next time." I gave a half-hearted reply. I knew I should have taken her words to heart, but seeing her irritated was just too funny.

Fran scoffed before turning her attention back to Ann. "It goes without saying, but if you tell anyone one..."

"I-I won't!" Ann raised her hands. "My lips are as sealed as an iron lock."

For whatever reason Fran seemed to have been satisfied with the answer. "Now Armel, what sort of information could this woman have that would be useful to us?"

"She pretty much confirmed that Ghoul Spirits have the Point Anchor. Plus she has some information on the Fairy Tail members hanging around here."

At the very least, I knew Ann had their names.

Fran pressed her face against her cheek. "I couldn't care less about the Fairy Tail members, that's a problem you will have to sort out."

"Thanks for that," I grumbled. Despite my vocal irritation, Fran had a point. She wasn't a member. She wouldn't have to worry about any backlash.

"What about you? What did you find while you were gone?" I shifted the subject which prompted Fran to take a seat on the nearby bed, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Me? Well, I do think I found the inn where Ghoul Spirits are staying in." Fran's lips curled into a smile. A certain smugness radiated from her smirk, almost like it was mocking me.

I, on the other hand, felt a mixture of excitement and worry. "You did that all by yourself?" I knew Fran was good at sneaking around, but there was still a chance someone had detected her.

"You certainly wasn't there..." Fran closed one of her eyes, running her fingers through her hair. "Plus if what you are saying is true, then our next move should be to go and investigate the hotel for clues."

Great, sneaking into a location where we know dark mages are going to be. The one thing I wanted to avoid.

"Just to let you know, the inn isn't their main hideout," Ann said, relaying the same information to Fran as to me. "If you looking for the whatever anchor it's probably going to be there and not at the inn."

Fran clicked her tongue. "If that's the case, you are going with us."

"O-of course I am, if a little girl like you is going through with it then I'll go too." It seemed that Ann's pride wasn't going to allow her to sit on the sidelines. "Though, I'm going to need a new mask..."

I let out a sigh. "Does it really matter if someone sees your face?" Ghoul Spirts already knew who Ann was. It seemed pointless at this point.

"Absolutely!" Ann whined. "If the Fairy Tail members weren't here, it wouldn't matter, but as long as they are in town, I can't show my face."

I scratched the back of my head. "Okay, I get it, why not use one of the blanks as a makeshift good or something?" Considering how poorly the room was maintained, I doubted anyone that worked at the inn cared if she ripped one of the sheets.

"Fine..." Ann lifted one of the dusty sheets and tore into it. She then tied the chunk of cloth around the back of her head, covering most of her face.

It probably wouldn't do much if someone knew her. Perhaps the simple action gave her comfort.

"If you are set, I want to leave as soon as possible." Fran closed one of her eyes. "The more time we waste here, the more likely we'll lose sight of our goal."

Without saying another word, Fran opened up the window placing one of her legs out of it. She was going to ignore the door again; it seemed.

I wrapped my arm around Ann's waist before leaping out of the window alongside Fran. I felt Ann's body stiffened under my arms, but she didn't scream. She probably realized that if she did, she'd draw too much attention to us.

Once we landed on the street, Fran started to move in the direction of what I assumed was the inn that the Ghoul Spirit members were staying at.

The further we wandered into the city, the taller the buildings became. We were heading into the nicer part of the town, despite that it still was deserted.

After a few minutes of walking, we reached a towering building. It loomed over us like some dark column preventing all who dared enter it, which was strange since it was supposed to be a charming hotel.

It was sweet in a way. It had a giant neon light on the front with blue and yellow colors, but the harsh fog made it all seem twisted, like a butcher shop disguised as a funhouse.

"This place looks pretty expensive," I said, scanning the stone and metal that made up the inn. "Do you think a bunch of dark mages on the run can afford it?"

"They don't have to," Fran replied. "They easily could have used magic to trick the staff into thinking they were staying legitimately. I mean, how many times have we used Direct Charm to skip out on a bill."

I visibly winced when Fran brought that up. We have done that a lot. Hell, we probably going to have to use direct charm again to get information about the people staying at the inn.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's hurry up and find that anchor." Ann grinned. The white-haired woman seemed far more confident now that she was backed up by two vampires.

We entered the lobby of the extravagant hotel. Right smack dab in the middle was a miniature fountain, behind it was the receptionist desk along with rows of tables and chairs for guest and visitors to sit.

The menacing air that had been seeping from the exterior of the building was nowhere to be found now.

"Bonjour!" I heard a familiar yet grating voice call out to us. I turned my head to see a green-haired vampire sitting at one of the nearby tables.

"Marie?" My eyes widened to see the so-called detective vampire lounging around. "What are you doing here?"

Marie's nostrils flared while she ran her fingers through one of her twin-tails. "What an odd question considering you're here too..."

That's right. We were there looking for information about the Point Anchor. It made sense for Marie to be there if we had the same goal at the moment.

"With that, all the current actors are in place." Marie crossed her legs, letting out a sigh. "Though I can't say this was much of a mystery. No red-herrings, no motive, and the supporting actors are already on the second floor."

Fran let out a huff the moment Marie finished her sentence. "I can see how you can be the student of that woman. Both of you talk in such needlessly flowery ways."

"Of course," Marie said, lifting both of her hands. "A detective should be elegant if nothing else."

"You said supporting actors, does that mean someone else is here?" Ann asked.

Marie nodded, scanning the white-haired woman. "Why yes poorly dressed ninja. Two Fairy Tail members to be precise."

"W-what? Seriously?" It was like I couldn't catch a break. "Are you positive it was them?"

"Bien sûr! I wouldn't make a mistake like that," Marie wagged her finger. "I talked to them before you arrived in town, after all, it's not something...me the detective would forget."

"If that's the case, what should we do?" I wanted to avoid meeting anymore Fairy Tail members at the moment.

Marie then gave an elegant laugh, or at least she attempted to before a snort slipped its way in. "Aren't you overthinking this? A detective trumps a mage. If they have a problem with us being there, we can say we are on an investigation. Solving a string of murders is far more important than stopping a few thugs."

"That might work for you, but..." What if they went back to the guild and saw me? Then they'd tell the others that I wasn't on 'vacation.'

"I do not get it." Marie let out a deep breath. "Why are you so worried about those mages anyway? It's not like you are ever going to see them again, unless..."

Then, almost like a switch had been flipped Marie's eyes widened. No, instead it was like her pupils had grown three times larger. "Armel, do you have a secret?"

The mixture of curiousness and excitement in Marie's voice put me on edge. "I mean, everyone has something they rather not have other people know about."

I really couldn't let people find out I was a Fairy Tail mage, at least not yet.

"True, true, and it's the job of the detective to rip out what people have buried and display it to everyone." Marie's lips curled. "The looks on people's faces where you tear up their lies when you have cornered them...it's incroyable!"

"It's what?" Ann seemed to be confused by Marie's obnoxious word choice.

"It means amazing," I added. "This is what happens when you randomly mix languages."

Marie merely laughed at my feeble attempt to reprimand her. "However you say it. It makes my lady parts all tingly!"

"If this conversation is over, I'd like to start getting a move on." Fran cut in. "I am the impatient type you see, so if what you are saying is true I wish to at capture a member of Ghoul Spirits before any other mages get the opportunity."

It was the most direct method of gaining info. I knew Fran probably had at least a few tricks to wring info out of a few people.

"There isn't much reason to continue hanging out here non?" Marie stood up. "Please follow me to the second floor then, I doubt they would allow anyone who isn't currently staying here walk freely around the inn."

"Do you have a room here?" I asked which caused Marie to scoff.

"Of course, if you want an investigation to go smoothly, you must be willing to take risks." The green-haired vampire stood up, making her way to the steps leading up the inn. "Now follow me, I the detective will be your guide for the time being."

We didn't have much choice in the matter as we slowly descended up the first flight of stairs. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary on the second floor, but I noticed Ann's body growing tense.

A part of me wanted to tell her to wait back at the lobby. Though I knew Fran would have a problem with that. Even if Marie took over as guide, for the time being, leaving Ann alone wouldn't have been the best idea.

"So, do you know the exact room they are staying in?" I asked. "It'd be pretty creepy of us to wander around the hotel knocking on every door."

Also, inefficient considering the sheer amount of floors we would have to go through.

"Yes, they are on the fourth floor, but they are not all staying in the same room. By my, the detectives, reasoning the Fairy Tail member's should be making contact right about..."

A massive crash from one of the top floors shook the entire building. I winced as a few of the guest slowly started to wander out of their rooms to examine the scene.

"Damn it. They already started fighting." Fairy Tail wasn't known for their tact. I knew if they had to, they'd completely tear down the hotel to get their target.

"What should we do now? Rushing to the fourth floor like this seems like a bad idea." Ann pointed out, which caused me to weigh our options.

I knew Marie was going to go no matter what I said. "Fran, can you stay here with Ann while me and Marie check it out?"

Fran's eyes widened the very fact that I wasn't asking her to go with seemed alien to her. "Are you sure about that? You tend to do stupid stuff when I am not with you."

"D-don't say it like that!" I cried out. "It just makes sense for a few of us to stay one some of the lower floors in case one of the Ghoul Spirit members slip away."

The best-case scenario is that Fran could capture any fleeing member of the guild. This also prevented Ann from being put into an awkward situation if she wanted to avoid the Fairy Tail members.

Just when it seemed Fran was about to counter with a retort another rumble shook the hotel.

"If you lot are finished, it is time for me, the detective to take the intuitive." Without even sparing me a glance, Marie ran towards the next set of stairs. If her red-eyes and pale skin didn't give away her vampirism, her speed certainly did.

I cursed to myself quickly following her. We ran up two floors until we were greeted with something rather strange. Statues all standing with frozen expressions of terror. Around them were scratches and craters like a battle had taken place.

I wasn't so stupid to think someone would randomly place human-sized statues in the hallway. "These guys must have been turned to stone somehow."

"It seems that way," Marie examined the petrified men. "I suggest we be careful not to shatter them. While I don't care if they live or die, a corpse can only tell you so much."

We inched our way down the hallway. I wondered if we were going to encounter anyone else, that was until the roof above us started to chip away.

Then, as if someone dropped a bolder through it, someone landed in front of us. I nearly fell backward while Marie remained calm. I looked up at the large hole to see someone staring down it.

"Ah, I expected more from someone from Fairy Tail, even more, when that person uses so-called Fairy magic!" A purple-haired woman scoffed from the floor above, the color of her eyes matched her hair. Though the most striking thing about her the hat that covered her ears.

My attention then turned to the person lying on the ground. Once again, it was another woman with light brown hair. She was wearing an odd outfit, though the guild mark above her right bosom told me she belonged to Fairy Tail.

She stumbled to feet letting out a growl. "To think I'd meet someone completely immune to my stone eyes." The Fairy Tail mage then turned to face Marie and me. "If the two of you are guest then I suggest you head back to your rooms."

"Si vulgaire! Do not tell me you forgot who I was?" Marie grumbled.

"Wait, you're that detective from earlier..." The woman stood up, glaring at Marie. "What do you want?"

Before the conversation could continue, the woman standing above them sighed before she examined her watch. "While it would be enjoyable for me to stay for this meeting of the minds, I must be off." The purple-haired woman snickered vanishing into the floor above.

"If I let her get away then Bickslow won't let me hear the end of it." The Fairy Tail Mage dusted herself off. Then in an instant, she sprouted pink wings flying through the hole in the ceiling.

"Shit, we're going to lose track of them!" I cursed preparing the head back another flight of stairs before Marie placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Ne t'embête pas, besides we have all the information we need right here." Marie inched her way to one of the many statues examining each of them like a collector preparing to buy a garden ornament.

"One of these guys must know where the secret hideout is..." Marie scanned each one. Then, like drawing a name from a hat, she picked the strangest looking one. "My detective skills tell me that he is the one."

My lips curled into a frown before I gave the detective a sideward glance. "Are you positive?"

"Bien sûr, the great detective always knows!"

She then picked up the statue in question and lifted it over her head like it was a bag of feathers. Was she seriously going to carry the statue like that back down the stairs?

My thoughts were confirmed when she made her way back to the staircase. I carefully navigated the hall of statues before we made our way back to Ann and Fran.

It seemed that everyone else in the hotel had already evacuated, at least everyone on the second floor. The only ones standing there were the mage and vampire we left behind.

Fran instantly noticed the giant statue that Marie held over her head. "Ah, so you encountered a gorgon?"

"Don't say something like that so casually!" I snapped. "And no, we didn't encounter a monster. I think one of the Fairy Tail mages did this."

Carrying around a petrified man felt weird. All it took was Marie making one wrong move, and he would shatter against the ground. While it wasn't illegal to kill dark mages, I was not too fond of the idea of seeing a bunch of meat chunks on the ground.

"So, what are we going to do with him?" Ann attempted to tap the statue only for Marie to quickly yank it away.

"We shall head back to your inn. It's a decent distance away from this building, meaning that as long as the fairies are preoccupied, we should have a head start in interrogating him."

That seemed all fine a good except for one problem. "He's stone right now? How is he going to tell us anything?"

"I shall handle that part young man." Fran brushed her hair to the side. "If it's eye magic at work, then I should be able to dispel it."

"Bien!" Marie gave a toothy grin. "At this rate, we should have everything we need before night falls!"

I felt that she was overestimating her abilities. Still, I can't say I wasn't a bit more confident now that we had an actual member of Ghoul Spirits in our possession we might get through this without too much of a mess.

"By the way, Ann, do you know a woman with purple hair?" I asked while the four of us descended to the first floor. The lobby was overrun with people freaking out and complaining about the damages.

"Purple hair?" Ann pressed her finger to her lips before she shivered. "D-did she have purple eyes too?"

I hesitated to nod. Even though me saying yes or no wouldn't change reality, I wanted to keep the dream of everything going our way a bit longer.

"That she did..." Marie replied, trying her best to fit the statue through a nearby window.

"Yeah, I know her..." Ann sighed. "She is a Ghoul Spirits member. She just joined, and she as tracking abilities unmatched by anyone in the area."

"Is that why those two guys were able to find us?" I asked recalling the two Ghoul Spirit mages that attacked us.

Ann nodded. "Probably, but if she is a new member, then she probably doesn't know where the real hideout is."

I genuinely didn't know what the point of keeping new members away from the actual hideout. At most I could see it as a safety measure to from information leaks.

Once we snuck out of the building, we made our way through the foggy streets and back to the inn. Luckily the receptionist wasn't there, meaning I didn't have to explain why we were carrying a human statue into my room.

It took a minute for us to fit it through the door, but once inside Marie sat it next to the bed, "Mademoiselle Fran, if you will be kind to work your magic?"

Fran sighed, jumping on my back. "This man is rather tall, so I'm going to use you as a ladder."

I had a feeling that Fran was using that as an excuse to climb on me. Whatever the reason the black-haired vampire pressed her fingers against the statue's face looking deep into its eyes.

From there, the stone surrounding the statue's head slowly started to crack.

**Author note**

**Sorry if this arc seems a bit slower than usual. A lot of talking etc, we should hopefully be getting near the climax of the arc in the next one. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**The Culprit. **

The man let out a gasp as the stone covering his face shatter. Luckily every other part of his body remained encased in stone. Considering he was our ticket to learning our next destination, I didn't want him to do anything crazy.

"Greetings, we would like to know the location of your secret hideout." Marie tilted her head. It seemed she wasn't even going to bother with the formalities.

The man gritted his teeth while he attempted to struggle. "Who the hell are you, people!"

That was... a rather good question. From the Ghoul Spirit member's perspective, he got his ass kicked and is now suddenly in a random room at an inn.

Of course, we also didn't have time to explain it to him.

"Please just answer the question, or I will shatter you myself." Fran walked up to the man leaning his stone body ever so slightly. I didn't know how the petrification worked, but I did know I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of being broken apart.

"You brat, you think I'm scared of you?!" It seemed that being insulted by a little girl caused him to snap.

Marie pressed her finger to her lips and let out a giggle. "Ah, a classic interrogation. When was the last time I got to indulge in something like this?" Marie flipped her green hair before she rested her chin on her hand.

"Do we need to interrogate him?" I slumped my shoulders. "Me and Fran have a spell for this type of situation."

Direct Charm, it was a spell I used before. It usually doesn't work well on those with a strong will, but this guy didn't seem particularly firm with his beliefs.

"Non, non! We have to do this the long and tedious way!" Marie lifted her finger dramatically. "Can you call it a mystery story if there isn't at least one fake-out?"

Fran just rolled her eyes before jumping back on my shoulders. Her eyes dilated as they made contact with the Ghoul Spirit member's. "Please tell us where your true hideout is~." The sickening sweet tone masked the fact she was pretty much forcing him to betray his friends.

The man's eyes widened. "Sure, it's hidden in the old rundown church on the outskirts of the city." The moment he finished his statement, he shook his head. "W-why the hell did I say that?"

Fran giggled, though Marie was far less amused. "Blegh, doing something like this is akin to having someone else tell you who the culprit is at the end of a mystery novel."

"Sure..." I replied. "But look at it this way, now we will get to the main event sooner."

Her goal was to get the Point Anchor after all. A little side mystery like where it was being held shouldn't have mattered to a detective like her.

"I suppose you are right..." Marie let out a huff before she walked towards the window. "Though first I must head back to my room. There are a few pieces of furniture that I must collect."

"F-furniture?" I stuttered. Was I missing something? Was Marie going to run around hitting people over the head with a chair or something?

"Oh...so, you already learned that." Fran leaned her body against the wall staring at the green-haired detective. "I suppose someone like you would use furniture."

I noticed Ann's position shifted before she whispered something into my ear. "Is furniture vampire code or something?"

I shrugged. "Maybe..." If it was Fran hadn't told me about it yet.

I didn't get a chance to ask before Marie crawled out of the window. I wanted her to use the door, but it was far too late to stop her now.

"I guess our next stop is the church." I never really imagined I'd be heading into a church as a vampire. "Do we lose our powers or anything in the building?"

Fran shook her head. "No, unless it has very specific protection, it shouldn't matter," The black-haired vampire replied. "Considering the quality of the mages we've seen so far I doubt any of them know how to do it."

Fran glanced over to the still mostly petrified man. "I would like to kill him, but I have a feeling that you two would be against that."

"Of course..." I quickly answered. "There is no need to kill the guy, especially if most of his guildmates are already defeated. Just leave him there."

He was probably far too dazed and confused to make any coherent statements. Even ignoring that most of his body was still trapped in stone. I couldn't imagine him doing anything anytime soon.

"Y-yeah, even if these guys are bad news. Just killing someone who is completely defenseless would be pretty bad." Ann chimed in. At the very least, I knew that she was a decent person.

Fran clicked her tongue before she let out a defeated sigh. "Very well, but I won't hesitate to kill him if he returns." With that, Fran placed her foot on the window seal, while the man continued to yell and curse us.

"You know, we should use the door at least once..." I said, which prompted Fran's nostrils to flare up. "This is all apart of the vampire lifestyle. I thought I had already told you that."

She didn't tell me about jumping out of windows constantly. "Normally I'd just accept that answer, but we have a guest." I looked over to Ann. "I can't let myself look like a weirdo in front of new people."

"It's way too late for that!" Ann cried out. "Unless you think following girls and crawling on buildings is normal behavior."

I didn't have a counterpoint. "W-well I just thought you were the killer at the time." A random white-haired girl wandering around a foggy town would naturally draw some eyes.

"How could I look like the killer? You're the ones with pale skin and red eyes." Ann pressed her finger against my forehead.

"Enough about who was right or wrong." I waved her hand away. "We know the location of the church. We should hurry up and get over there."

I didn't want to encounter any more problems in the form of Ghoul Spirit members or the three Fairy Tail members that I kept bumping into.

It seemed that Fran wasn't going to wait for us any longer as she finally jumped from the window seal to the street below. From there, Ann clung to my back as I did the same. While we didn't know the exact location, we had enough information to figure out the rest on our own.

While we made our way towards the outskirts of the city, I noticed the fog was thinner the further we got from the center of the town, which could only spell trouble for Fran and me.

After all, we were vampires. Our eyesight wasn't hindered by the mist at all, but now that the haze was clearing it meant we were more likely to be spotted.

Though at that point it didn't matter. As long as we could get a lead on where the next demon was the trip would be worth it.

"Is this the place?" I asked, looking at the modestly sized building. It certainly looked like a church, but the windows were slightly cracked, and the wood rotted. If it was the church proper, then it looked like no one had been in for a while.

"It has to be..." Ann replied before she jumped off my back. "It's the only place that could even look like it could be called a church."

Ann was right; most of the buildings around the outskirts of town were either small homes or abandoned sheds. "What did you think they worshipped anyway?" I inched my way closer to the structure.

"As I recall, this city was once surrounded by a sea of sorts," Ann said. "At the bottom of that sea used to rest a god, or at least that is what I heard."

I was confused. The city itself was pretty far inland. I couldn't imagine a body of water ever existing here. "So you're saying the people of this city might have worshiped that thing long ago?"

Fran merely shrugged. "It's an old story, believe it or not, I don't know everything." Fran scoffed as she ran her finger through her hair.

I decided not to ask any more questions. Besides, we weren't there to find out the history of the building, but rather what was inside. I pressed my finger against the broken wooden door forcing it open. Inside was rows upon rows of pews. All lined up, pointing to what seemed like a stage.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone home." Ann looked around. "Maybe that guy lied to us?"

"Impossible." Fran quickly corrected the white-haired woman. "Direct charm only fails if the target has a high magical resistance if it failed, he wouldn't have told us anything at all."

I pressed my finger against the seats. "We should probably have asked for a bit more details."

Fran's face scrunched up, almost as if the vampire was annoyed. Then, without warning, she placed her pointed ears against the floor. Fran then held her breath. The room was so silent one could hear a pin drop.

"It's hollow underneath, meaning there is a room under this one," Fran said while she pressed her hand against the ground.

"A secret passage, huh?" Ann smiled. "It's sort of like we're exploring some ancient ruins or something!"

I ran my fingers through my hair. "Sure you can put it that way," I then started to tap on the floor. "There should be a hidden switch somewhere."

Right when I said that I heard the sound of wood being torn apart. I looked over to Fran, who was already starting to rip into the floor. "What are you doing?!"

"Huh? There is no need to be subtle at this point. If this is their main hideout, then someone is going to notice our presence." The black-haired vampire continued to rip away the floorboards like they were paper.

The whole scene was a bit savage. Once Fran had finished making her way through the floor, a hole appeared before us.

"There really is a secret room," Ann smiled. The hole wasn't a hole, more akin to a tunnel that had been dugout. At the very least we'd be able to crawl along the side instead of just jumping down.

If that was the case..."Fran, could you carry Ann this time?"

"EH?! Why are you asking me?" Fran snapped. I just crossed my arms and closed my eyes.

"Because...I don't feel like it."

"Don't act like you have an in-depth reason then say something like that..." Fran let out a huff. "Besides, asking a cute girl like me to carry someone like her is a crime against reality."

I rubbed my chin, looking at the hole that Fran had created. "Cute girls don't make holes like that!"

"That's because you're small-minded. Iceberg has an entire competition built around cute girls digging holes!"

I had a peculiar feeling that Fran was stretching the truth about the hole digging competition.

"It's okay, you guys. I can make it down by myself," Ann said before she examined the steep incline. "It doesn't look too bad, and even if I start to fall, I can use my magic to catch myself...hopefully."

She didn't sound too sure about that, but if things went south, it would give me an excellent opportunity to see what her magic was actually like. I was the first one to jump into the tunnel, by fit dug into the dirt as I started to slide down the tube made of dirt.

I heard Fran and Ann following me down the makeshift slide. It didn't take us long to reach the bottom. Sadly the room we ended up in seemed to have been entirely random.

"Where are we no-" I didn't finish my statement before I felt two heavy objects fall on my back. No calling them objects would be wrong, more like a small vampire and woman.

I should have expected that this was the sort of situation I always found myself in.

"Armel, could you perhaps make your body softer next time? You make a terrible cushion." Fran pressed her fingers against my back.

She wasn't the only one. Ann was running her finger against my arm and neck. "Huh, you're a lot more toned than I thought. I figured you were a string bean."

I sighed. "Not that I mind you two being all over me, but we won't get much done if you continue to poke a prod me."

"I guess you're right," Ann sighed almost as if she was disappointed with that fact. When she got up, I felt the silver-haired woman touch something she wasn't supposed to.

"Why the hell did you just touch my butt?"

"Eh, I just wanted to." Ann's response was quick. "Now we just have to find that anchor thing right?"

I nodded. "Marie said we would know what it is once we found it."

If it were a magical artifact, it wouldn't have been a stretch to say it probably had a unique look. "I guess our next step is to find our way out of this ro-"

Right before I could finish my statement, something whizzed past me. In a span of a second, a large crossed shaped hole imprinted itself into the wall.

"As I said before, there is no reason to be subtle now," Fran stated, lowering her hand. "Now let's hurry up and examine each room for the weapon."

Fran didn't even wait for me to reply as she dashed ahead. Like all vampires, her speed was far too great to be matched by a human.

"Fran, wait for me!" I yelled before I turned my attention to Ann. I'd be able to keep up with Fran, but I knew the white-haired mage had no hope in doing so. "Come on!"

I quickly grabbed her arm, nearly dragging her along with me. Ahead of us was Fran, somehow managing to check every room without losing her stride for a minute.

We had no idea how vast the catacombs were. I suspected that they couldn't be that much bigger than the church above. More importantly, I expected to see more Ghoul Spirit members. Maybe most of them were taken out back at the inn.

Right, when I started to think we were running around in circles, Fran suddenly stopped. She pressed her ear against what seemed like a random stone wall.

"Someone's inside." Fran knocked on the stone before pressing her palm against the rock before casting another Dark Cross instantly tearing through the room.

I slowed down Ann gripping her arm like it had been torn off. "You need to give me a bit more warning when you do something like that!"

"Sorry..." I said before, the two of us followed Fran into the room.

Once inside, we saw three men all trembling in the corners of the chamber. That, however, wasn't the most interesting thing in the room. Instead, it was the strange object that was in the middle of the floor.

It was...an anchor, like an actual ship anchor. I finally understood why Marie said that we would know it when we see it.

"D-damn it, how did they find us? Don't tell me you guys are apart of Fairy Tail!" One of the men screamed at us. Even though they were hostile, none of them attempted to attack us.

"Not exactly..." I said, taking a few steps forward. "We're just here for the anchor, if you give it to us we'll pretend we didn't see anything."

That was a fair trade-off. I didn't have any stake in the whole Ghoul Spirit situation, plus if I took them out, I would draw more attention from the Fairy Tail members that were there. As long as they weren't involved in the murders, I didn't have to stop them.

One of the men winced. "A-are you serious about that?"

"Don't be stupid!" Another one groaned. "Even if he is this is our last chance to get back at the legal guilds. If we give it away, then everything we did up to this point would be pointless!"

Wait, they couldn't even use it? My gaze wandered back to the anchor. It did seem rather heavy and somewhat unwieldy. I couldn't wrap my head around how someone would even use an anchor as a weapon.

Fran tapped her foot against the ground. "It would be simple if we just knock them out and take it by force."

The child-like vampire was right, but before we could take any action, footsteps echoed behind us. I instinctively turned my head to see the purple-haired woman from before. She was wearing the same hat that covered her ears along with a two-piece suit.

For some reason, the moment the woman appeared, Fran's body tensed up. Even I couldn't help but feel put on edge from her appearance.

"R-Ridicule, what are you doing here?" One of the men stuttered.

"Huh? Well, I just followed that girl over there." The purple-haired woman turned her attention to Ann. "I was tracking her after all, so it's only natural that I'd end up in the same place. Though I never expected she would take me to our super-secret hideout."

The woman let out an almost stilted laugh.

"I-I guess it doesn't matter!" One of the men replied. "If you are here, hurry up and take care of those three!"

The woman completely ignored the man walking up to the large anchor in the center of the room. "So, this is the Point Anchor. Why haven't any of you used it yet?"

The men looked at one another. I didn't know why, but knots started to form in my stomach.

"It's impossible to use. No one can even touch it, let alone lift it."

Ridicule nodded. "You mean like this?" Almost as if defying what they had just said the purple-haired woman grabbed the anchor even lifting it slightly.

"H-how could you..."

"Of course, it would be impossible for a human to use this weapon. It wasn't designed for them in mind." Then the sleeve of her shirt started to rumble. After a second, a small eyeball creature with tentacles crawled up her arm hooking itself into one of the two holes the anchor had.

"That's the demon..." Fran's eyes narrowed.

I raised my brow. "That's the thing we're after?"

I didn't know if it was bad luck or good luck that everything was in one spot.

"A-amazing! You can lift it!" One of the men cheered.

"If we knew that we'd show you this place a lot sooner!" Another laughed. They were treating it as if the weapon had already guaranteed their victory.

"Now you just have to take those three out, and we'll be home free!"

Even though her comrades cheered the purple-haired woman just examined the weapon. She wrapped the metal chain around her arm, the demon that had attached itself to it looking in every direction.

Then without warning a splatter of blood painted the walls followed by a loud thud.

"H-huh?" One of the men turned to see their comrade, or rather what was left of him. The entire top half of his body had been crushed, smooshed some would say. The cause of it was the giant anchor embedded into the wall.

"W-what are you doing!" One of them screamed. Despite his terror, Ridicule closed her eyes, pulling back on the chain.

"How sad, I liked you guys. Too bad everything turned out like this."

"Y-you bitch." One of the remaining men seethed. "You planned on betraying us this whole time."

Ridicule shrugged. "That is something a human would say, I think of it as killing for something you want." The woman lifted the anchor again, smashing it against another one of the Ghoul Spirit members, turning them into jelly.

The final one just stood there, incapable of moving. "Y-you'd murder your comrades."

For some reason, the woman laughed. It wasn't a subdued one either, but one of someone who heard a funny joke. "How naive, people can kill their comrades for what they want."

Then, like a door slamming the final man was killed. I gritted my teeth. It dawned on me the person in front of us wasn't human.

"Who are you?" I gritted my teeth. The woman merely sighed flinging off her hat, revealing pointy ears not too dissimilar to Fran's.

"I didn't expect to see other vampires here. I suppose we can't go our separate ways without fighting, huh?"

She was a vampire? The ears and skin-complexion matched but... "Vampires have red eyes. Yours are purple."

The moment I pointed that out the woman giggled. "Oh, these?" She then shoved her index finger into her eye-socket plucking both of eyeballs out. "These are artificial eyes."

After a minute of keeping her eyes closed Ridicule opened eyelids revealing her crimson gaze.

"Using artificial eyes to hide her true nature...not bad," Fran said.

"Please, you compliment me too much, Miss Wimpffen. I heard plenty of stories about you, but I must admit you are far...cuter than I expected." Ridicule chuckled.

Fran crossed her arms. "Enough with the pleasantries, give us both the weapon and the demon and we won't take things further."

The woman pressed her thumb and finger to her chin, looking at me, Fran and Ann. "I'll have to refuse, but I'd be happy to meet you topside if you want to take it by force."

The woman lifted the anchor above her head, shooting it like a grappling hook through the ceiling. She was then yanked up through the hole she created.

"Damn, she's challenging us!" Fran bit her thumb.

"She must be the vampire that's been killing everyone in town..." Ann took a deep breath. She tried her best to avoid looking at the three newly created corpses.

"If that's the case we just can't let her go. Besides we need to keep our promise to Marie and get the anchor back."

Now that the two goals were intertwined there was no reason for me not to keep up my end of the bargain. The only thing left to do was talk to the detective and confront Ridicule properly.

**Author note.**

**I still have a few more twists in this arc as well as fight scenes. The next few chapters are going to be very action-based. However, the participants probably aren't whom you are expecting them to be.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**A Girl's Witch Hunt.**

"Ah, so how are we supposed to get out anyway?" I looked up at the large hole that Riducle had created. Going through that would have been easy, but I didn't know if Ann would be able to follow.

"Well, I and you can just crawl up the sides of the wall and ceiling." Fran ran her fingers through her black hair before she turned her attention to Ann. "Though that human would have to cling to your back like a parasite."

"Yeah, yeah, make fun of the human," Ann grumbled before she looked up at the hole. "Believe it or not, I can get out myself."

"Can you?" My eyes narrowed. Up to this point, Ann had shown the combat prowess of a wet blanket. While I knew she was savvy, I couldn't imagine her having any magic that would help her in this situation.

"Yes, I can!" Ann quickly answered back before taking a look at her arm. "I think..."

The lack of confidence in her voice didn't fill me with much hope, but I decided to let the white-haired mage play around a bit.

Ann looked at her arm, concentrating on it. Then after a few seconds, a soft glow appeared. Once the light vanished, her arms were completely wrapped up in what appeared to be old bandages.

No, it was more than that, even the skin that poked through seemed to be different. Like it had been dried out or something.

"I don't use this much, since every time I do, my arm can get stuck like this for a couple of days." Ann smiled waving around her bandaged up arm.

Fran raised her brow. "Take over magic?"

"Is that what it's called?" Ann let out a goofy laugh. "I've just figured it was random transforming magic or something." Ann then reeled her arm back before the bandages unraveled from her arm shooting up through the hole in the ceiling. Then like a rope, she started to pull herself up with the bandages.

Despite the mundanity of it, I was impressed. Of course, both me and Fran were going to take the faster way up. The two of us clung to the nearby wall, and like spiders crawled up the side and onto the ceiling. I've gotten so used to doing it. It had become second nature.

Fran and I reached the top before Ann. We were no longer in the church. Instead, we were back in the city. It made some sense. The underground passages were far more extensive than the building.

Fran and I crawled out of the hole, I then grabbed the bandage that Ann was crawling up. With a single yank, I pulled her through the hole nearly flipping her over a nearby building.

"Ack!" The silver-haired mage yelped as she nearly landed on the ground. "Be careful! My body is pretty squishy, you know!"

I ignored Ann's complaints. Instead, I scanned the area trying to locate Riducle. She could have been anywhere in the city, but for some reason, I felt like she wasn't going to leave. Someone like her would want to clear up any loose ends.

Which meant taking care of the rest of the Ghoul Spirit members that were in the town.

"Fran, do you think you could track down Riducle?" I asked the small vampire who let out an irritated huff.

"If it were that easy, don't you think I would have found her in the first place?" Fran made a good point. If she were capable of that sort of tracking, she would have used it. Not only that, the map wasn't detailed enough for us to use it to track the demon.

I scratched my head. "If that's the case, our best bet would be to ask for Marie." She was a detective. It was their job to track down people who would rather remain hidden.

"Oh? Did someone call me? The detective!" A voice called from above. My head naturally turned to the nearby building to see the green-haired vampire.

She stood on the building. Above her head was a small coffin. I didn't know why she was carrying a casket, but for some reason, the aesthetic worked for her.

"How did you know we were here?" Ann asked, which caused Marie to snort.

"Simple, I am a monster that appears whenever her name is called." Marie dramatically pointed to the silver-haired girl. It was probably an overly verbose way to say she didn't feel like explaining.

"Well then Miss Detective, we found the Point Anchor along with the demon we were looking for," Fran said.

Marie's smile widened into a green, like a creature who had no muscles in their face. "Oh oui, très bien! I assume it's the woman that we encountered back at the hotel."

The fact that Marie knew that much made it easier for me. "She also happens to be a vampire. I think she is using the Point Anchor with the demon."

Marie pressed her finger to her lips before she lept off the roof. She then landed before the three of us, still carrying her coffin. "Using my deduction skills, I think I know where her next target may be."

"You do?" Ann asked.

Marie placed her hand on her chest. "Of course, me, the detective can guarantee she is heading to the local jail."

I wondered why Riducle would head there. That was until I realized that most of the Ghoul Spirit members would be there. If she wanted to kill everyone who knew about the anchor, that was the most logical place to be.

"Then it's decided, we shall head to the prison." Fran quickly crawled onto my back.

I then turned my attention to Ann. "I think you should head back to the inn and wait for us there." While I felt somewhat shitty for just shipping her off if we were fighting a vampire she had no place in the battle.

Me, Marie and Fran could get our limbs crushed, and necks slit and walk it off. Ann, on the other hand, wasn't that resilient. If her arm got cut off, she'd be in serious trouble.

"You don't have to tell me twice. Good luck!" Ann let out a goofy smile.

"Don't just agree to it!" I grumbled. "Isn't this the part where you insist on going?"

Ann scoffed before she crossed her arms. "Please, I'm not an idiot. I'm not about to risk my head for an anchor. Besides, this seems like your problem, not mine."

All fair points, but she could have at least pretended she had a stake in the current battle. "Fine get out of here, and don't steal any of our stuff while we're gone!"

Ann laughed before she slipped between the buildings. At the very least, I could take solace in the fact that she would be safe for a while.

The three of us then made our way through the city streets. The fact we didn't hear any screams of explosions yet told me our target hadn't made their move just yet.

I would have liked to keep things on the down-low even more so with the Fairy Tail members that were hanging around the city though it seemed that most of our problems would be coming to an end soon enough. At least that is what I thought until Fran's ears twitched.

"Armel, someone's watching us." Fran's words forced Marie and me to stop in our tracks. I looked around the fog-filled city until my eyes wandered upward. I didn't know why so many people liked standing on buildings, but before us was three figures.

Two of them I recognized as the Fairy Tail members I've met before, the last masked one was entirely new for me.

"Oh my, the fairies have gathered before us. How unexpected..." Marie's eyes widened. "Did you want to get my autograph?"

The brown-haired woman eye twitched before she adjusted her glasses. "Don't be stupid, like we'd want something as worthless as that!

"Then why are you bothering us?" Marie grumbled, showing her far less pleasant side. "Unlike you lowly mages I have important things to do, me, the detective!"

I had to wonder if Marie was trying to piss them off. I glanced over to Fran, who still clung to my shirt. She had remained relatively silent through the whole ordeal. I assumed it was because she was utterly bored with the situation.

"We are here to get information out of the two of you." The green-haired mage pointed his sword at the two of us. I gritted my teeth. I knew the Fairy Tail mages would come back to bite me in the ass.

"Aren't you hunting for Ghoul Spirit members?" I questioned. "What does that have to do with us?"

"Well because Evergreen here lost track of her target we've been searching the entire city for her!" The masked man then let out a laugh which caused the brown-haired woman to shoot him a glare.

"I doubt you would have done much better!"

So they were after Riducle as well. I quickly weighed my options in my head. If I got their help, then defeating the vampire would probably be easy. Though I had a feeling they would want to dispose of the demon, something I couldn't let happen. Not only that, but they belonged to Fairy Tail.

I wanted to keep my actions a secret from the rest of the members as long as possible — something I couldn't do if I exposed my magic to the group.

"Sorry, but your assistance is no longer needed." Marie brushed her hair to the side, setting down her coffin. "I can confirm that all Ghoul Spirits members have been either captured or killed. The woman you are after is not connected to that guild, so intervention would be fruitless."

I was positive that Marie couldn't have picked a more snobbish way to respond.

"T-this brat!" The woman growled. "We should turn them to stone and force them to talk!"

This conversation was getting us nowhere. Moreover, every second, we wasted talking to them was another second that Riducle got closer to her destination.

I doubt they would just let us by, and even if they did, they'd follow us.

"Why don't you two go on ahead?" Marie waved her hands. It was an unexpected suggestion, one that didn't fit the detective at all.

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" I would rather talk down three Fairy Tail members than fight a vampire. Though I had a feeling that both would be nearly impossible.

"If my assumption is correct, then it'd be in your best interest not to fight Fairy Tail members non?"

I winced that means Marie must have figured out I was technically a part of Fairy Tail. "T-thanks for this Marie..."

The pig-tailed girl scoffed. "Your thank is worth less than dirt. I do however expect to win the best-supporting actress for this arc!"

I didn't know what she was talking about, but I decided not to question it. I made sure Fran had probably griped my body before I dashed towards a random direction.

"Evergreen!" The green-haired man called out the name of his comrade. The brown-haired woman then jumped into action, wings sprouting from her back.

Before she could even take off, she was struck by a coffin.

I didn't even bother to look back before me and Fran lept onto a nearby rooftop leaving Marie alone with the trio.

* * *

"Si vulgaire! I do hate being ignored." Marie pressed her hand her hips, Evergreen still reeling back from being struck by the coffin.

The coffin harshly landed on the ground, spilling its contents onto the street. Inside was a dagger, a shield of some sort and a bow with a quiver.

"You need to watch yourself Evergreen!" The masked man laughed.

"I don't need to hear that from you Bickslow!" Evergreen grumbled before she adjusted her glasses. "You want to be turned to stone, do you!"

Marie didn't respond to the green-clad woman. Instead, she decided to turn her attention to the swordsmen, who barely said a word.

"You are going to get in our way?"

Marie just closed one of her eyes. "Isn't that a strange statement? You got in our way after all, besides I don't view what's about to happen as a fight."

This time it was Bickslow that groaned. "This chick is starting to irritate me. Let's hurry up and take care of her and chase the other two."

Marie let out a sigh. "Mages...wizards...magic users. These are just glorified names, right?" Marie's tone shifted to something for more unsettling. "But in the end, you're just a bunch of witches. Nothing but a bunch of humans that wave their arms around and use the world around them."

So then Marie smiled, her grin widened with every passing moment. She raised one eyebrow and lowered the other one before a cackle flowed through the misty city. "That's right! You're nothing but a much of lowly witches! To a detective, you might as well be limbless toads!"

Marie then lifted her arms to the sky. "This isn't a battle. This is a witch hunt! Kekekekeke! Coooome ouuut! My cutesy wootsy furnituuuurrrreee!"

Right as she finished her statement, the weapon's in the street came to life. They popped off from the ground as if lightning had struck them before being molded into human forms.

"Mewow! You haven't called us out in a mewoile!" The first of the forms was a slender woman with cat ears and a tail. Her purple hair covered most of her face, but two yellow cat eyes tracked her potential targets. Between her fingers was a bright pink bow with no quiver.

"Let it be known that you haven't called us in some time." The browned haired woman clad in blue spoke next. Unlike the cat-girl, she didn't have a weapon in her fingers. Instead of armor was placed across her body, all except her buttocks that for some reason, was completely exposed.

"I-it's not like I w-wanted to be summoned by you or anything...s-stupid idiot!" The final one was a long silver-haired woman with piercing red eyes. Floating around her were six daggers, all-dancing around like they had minds of their won.

The women clothing was odd. Seemingly design with someone who had different fetishes than anything a mage would wear.

"All right, Dauge, Bouclier, Flèche. Crush them!" Marie laughed before the three women soluted their master.

Bouclier took step forward first. Her eyes locking with Evergreen's. "I shall take care of the tacky woman."

"Someone who isn't even wearing pants shouldn't be calling anyone tacky!" Evergreen growled.

"Then me and my sisters shall take care of the masked man." Dauge stepped forward while she juggled her daggers. "Ah, people who cover up their face just make me want to gouge their eyes out even more!"

"Mew mew mew! Then I'll take care of the long-haired one!" Flèche snickered, still keeping her upright solute. "Master, do you want to help?"

Marie waved her hands before she crawled onto a nearby building. She then took a seat as if she was about to watch a show. "If you lowly paper-weights can't handle a bunch of fairies then I'll scrap you myself!" The detective snorted.

"S-so mean..." The cat girl's ears drooped before an arrow appeared in her fingers.

* * *

"Hope Marie doesn't get into too much trouble because of us," I said. Fran and I were closing in on our destination. Strangely enough, however, the person we were chasing was just randomly sitting in the street.

I skid to a halt, Fran nearly flying off my body. There was no doubt about it. Riducle was in the middle of the street, sitting on the large anchor.

"Ah, I had a feeling you'd show up." The woman brushed her short hair to the side. "I decided I should take care of you first before I tied up any other loose ends."

Fran didn't even hesitate to jump off of my back. "This time, it will be different."

"Huh?" I was confused my Fran's seemingly random comment.

"This time I'll be fighting with you instead of being your handicap," Fran explained. The black-haired vampire eyes zeroed in on Riducle.

"Two against one?" Riducle closed her eyes before shaking her head. "No, it's two against two." She finally stood up, the demon that had locked itself into the anchor wiggled about.

I opened my mouth prepared to convince her to step down, but I knew it would fall on deaf ears. If she weren't convinced the first time, we spoke she wouldn't be convinced now. Besides, she was also the vampire that killed and devoured people all across the city.

Letting her go without a fight didn't seem right.

"Now then...shall we get started?" Riducle dragged her anchor behind her while I balled my fist.

"Yeah, lets..."

**Author note**

**Sorry for the long break. A lot of stuff happened. A close friend of mine died, and I also had to write some commissions, among other things. I hope to get back to a semi-weekly schedule soon though. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**The Many Conflicts of a Misty Town.**

"You flew away from the others?" Bouclier examined the empty town while Evergreen floated above her.

The Fairy Tail mage examined her enemy. She couldn't make heads or tails of the mage, even stranger since she someone managed to follow her despite flying in a random direction.

"I didn't need them interfering!" The Thunder Legion member removed her glasses, looking Boculier straight in her eye.

Nothing, the scantly clad knight didn't respond to the eyes whatsoever. "My apologies, but I'm not into women."

"I'm not trying to seduce you!" Evergreen snapped. "She really is immune to my Stone Eyes, is she even human?"

"No." Boculier's reply was blunt, like a hammer. "I'm furniture, but that's beside the point. Are you going to continue running?"

Evergreen eye twitched — a direct insult, one that she couldn't stand. Evergreen lifted her fan before swiping it through the air. In an instant tiny bullets of light descended upon Boculier.

Despite the oncoming rain, Boculier did not move. Instead, she opted to fold her hands behind her back. The moment the first attack hit it harmlessly bounced off of the knight's body, like a bullet ricocheting off of metal.

For the first time, Boculier's blank expression changed to one of frustration. "Eh? Is this some joke? You expect to break this shield with something like that?"

Just like Evergreen had been insulted by Boculier's words, the knight had been offended by the fairy's actions.

Boculier lifted her hand as if aiming for Evergreen. The mage attempted to move, only to be struck by something invisible. The moment it hit her body, the sound of glass shattering echoed through the foggy town.

The brown-haired mage corrected herself with her wings, only for something else to smash against her figure. A similar sound of glass was heard while Evergreen's body rolled across the street.

"Invisible attacks?" Evergreen looked around, trying to predict the next blow. Boculier, on the other hand, hadn't moved from her spot, the only difference was that her hand was lifted.

"Shall I make it easier for you? I can make my barrier's visible if you'd like." Once again, Boculier's tone was blunt, no more like it was genuine. The lack of sarcasm somehow made it even worse for the Thunder Legion member.

"You..." Evergreen attempted to fly into the sky, but her head hit an invisible barrier. When her head touched it, a light red outline flashed, showing the limits of the dome.

Boculier lifted both of her hands, placing them together. A shield the size of Boculier body formed in front of her. "Please take this." The attack was fired at an alarming speed, barely giving enough time for the fairy mage to dodge.

Evergreen placed her hands together. This time sharp bolts of light were fired attempting to cut down Boculier. Once again, the knight crossed her arms, the spell bouncing off harmlessly against her body.

"Still not enou-" Boculier stopped herself mid-sentence. She noticed something sparkling around her. Evergreen smiled as if her victory had been assured.

"Now I have to get out of the range of the explosio-" Evergreen attempted to step back, but her back hit a wall. No, her back hit an ever enclosing dome that forced her closer to both Boculier and her own spell.

"I wonder if you can take the force of your own spell." Boculier expression was as dull as ever.

"W-wait hold o-" Evergreen couldn't even cancel her own magic before a cluster of explosions enveloped both her and her enemy. Strangely enough, they were all contained in the invisible barrier preventing and damage from spreading to the nearby buildings.

Once the smoke was cleared, Boculier stood over Evergreen's unconscious body. The knight let out a sigh. "I suppose this was the natural result. I'll take my time in reporting back to Lady Marie..."

* * *

"I hate you!" The silver-haired woman let out a yell as her daggers danced around her blocking all incoming attacks. "Your voice, your clothes, they make me want to tear out my ears and slit my eyes!"

Bickslow balanced himself on one of his dolls. Usually, he'd be laughing, but Dauge magic was shocking oppressive. The six daggers that danced around her almost seemed like they had a mind of their own.

"Hurry up, my idiot sisters! Pierce his arms and legs!" The daggers spun around before flinging themselves towards Bickslow, like six bullets.

Bickslow smirked. "Line formation!"

Due to the motion of the dolls, Bickslow managed to dodge the blades before his five babies started to stack on top of one another, forming a totem pole.

A sharp beam then fired from the dolls prompting Dauge to cartwheel out of the way. The silver-haired furniture didn't even bother motioning the daggers as they resumed targeting the Fairy Tail Mage.

Upon reflection, there was something strange about the daggers. It was only something that Bickslow would notice, but it seemed like the weapons had souls.

"Don't ignore me!" Dauge screamed, standing on her hands. Then something odd happened. She wrapped her legs around one another in an impossible fashion. Her lower body then transformed into a giant dagger before she flung herself towards her opponent.

Bickslow crossed his arms in an X formation as his dolls did the same with their bodies. Dauge bladed legs impacted the shield, trying its best to drill through the newly created barrier. Sadly despite her best efforts, she was blown away.

"Ack!" The silver-haired furniture's body bounced off the walls before her legs got stuck in a nearby wall. "Damn it! What are the rest of you doing?! Hurry up and help your cute older sister!"

Even though the daggers were nowhere near Dauge, they still followed her command. The knives scattered bouncing off the ground and walls building up speed.

This time, however, Bickslow wasn't the target. This time it was his dolls.

"That's right, gouge those tacky things!" Dauge grinned.

Bickslow himself could avoid the attack, but coordinating all his dolls to do the same was a different story. If he had some vessel to move the souls into the mage wouldn't have cared, but the current section of the city was rather barren.

If that were the case, he'd sacrifice one doll to save the rest. One of the dolls fluttered about allowing itself to be struck by the daggers. It then was violently torn apart, but that gap left an opening.

Dauge was still stuck in the wall after all. The four remaining dolls created a circle. Spinning faster and faster like some magical fan. In an instant, a sizeable green beam of light was fired towards the silver-haired woman.

"Eeek!" Dauge quickly tried to pull her leg out of the wall. Despite her best efforts, it was far too late. The attack completely consumed her along with the building.

Bickslow laughed. "Gave me a bit of a scare there, now I should get back to the others..."

He jumped off the nearby building, preparing to land on one of his four remaining dolls, only for it to be cut in half in an instant.

"W-what?" His body flinched as someone jumped towards him. The person had dark purple hair but wore the same outfit as Dauge.

"Can't believe my stupid sister nearly lost to someone like you!" The woman grinned as her arm turned into a knife. Bickslow motioned one of his remaining dolls, but that too was cut to pieces.

"Nope, nope, no escaping this tiiiimmme!" Another woman appeared. Once again, matching the attire of Dauge. Before Bickslow could comprehend what was going on, he was kicked to the ground.

Only two dolls remained. What was worse, while his babies were dwindling, the number of enemies he was facing seemed to have been multiplying.

Six figures stood on six buildings, all glaring down at him with red-eyes. All of them were female; the only thing telling them apart was their hairstyle and hair color.

"Talk about pathetic!" One cackled.

"Talk about lame!" Another chimed in.

Then, as if those words were enough to call their leader, Dauge appeared once again. She gnashed her teeth while a small vein bulged from her temple.

"To force me to manifest my sisters like this...I'm going to be punished by Lady Marie for sure!"

Altogether there were seven of them.

"Where did they come from?" The Fairy Tail mage asked himself. He hadn't noticed any mages before.

"You don't get it, do you?" Dauge snorted. "Those daggers I have been using, those were my sisters. Up to this point, I was playing a game with you, but now I wonder..." Dauge gave a toothy grin. "Can you defeat all seven of us at once?!"

Without even a moment of hesitation, the seven sisters descended upon the mage.

* * *

Marie twirled her hair as she waited for her furniture to return. "They didn't all need to scatter like that, did they?" The green-haired detective lifted her leg, examining her stockings.

Just when she was about to relax her body, a shrill cat-like voice echoed through the air. The detective shot up to see Flèche running across the rooftop like a cat heading straight to her.

"M-master!" The cat woman cried tears in her eyes. "He's too strong for me!"

The irritating voice that penetrated Marie's eardrums as ground her teeth. "Stupid paper-weight! The fact that you're still talking to me means that you didn't fight your hardest!"

The vampire stomped her feet, but before she could scold her servant anymore, the green-haired swordsmen appeared before her.

Marie puffed up her chest, her foe standing on the street while she stood on the building above. Flèche continued to hide behind her master's skirt.

"You followed her back?" Marie tilted her head. "I'm shocked that you didn't go and try to find your other friends."

Freed glared at his enemy. "They can take care of themselves, besides the only I'd get answers is by confronting you."

Marie groaned before she looked over to Flèche. "You idiot, stand back up! I bet the only reason you ran away was to get me to fight, right?!"

"Y-you figured it out?" The fear in Flèche voiced vanished. "I just figured you'd be bored if I handled everything."

Marie twirled her finger through her hair. "I'm a detective, not a brute. If you want someone who enjoys fighting, then ask a mage." Marie turned her attention back to Freed. "Now then, Mr. Fairy, it'd be pretty simple for you to walk away now. Though I have a distinct feeling that you won't accept."

Freed merely pointed his blade to the duo.

Marie giggled before a smile that showed off her sharp teeth appeared on her face. "Bien! I shall rip apart the lie that makes you believe that you can defeat me, and replace it with the truth that you will be crushed! Me, the vampire and detective, Marie-Claude Levasseur!"

Within the span of those words, a strange red outline appeared on her coffin. The green-haired vampire then lifted her hand and shattered the layer of red as if it were glass. From its shards, it formed a weapon. It was far to thick to be a sword and far too crude to be a scythe. No the nearly transparent blade in Marie's had was a meat cleaver.

Marie didn't even bother with her usual pleasantries. In less than a second, she closed the gap between her and slamming the cleaver into the spot where he was standing.

Freed lifted his blade to block the swing, but his entire body reeled from the impact. In an instant, he drew runes into the air sending them towards his enemy.

With a single swipe of her cleaver, Marie cut the runes like paper. "Those are just words, right?!" She yelled, holding back her giggle. "Pain, Fear, Death? You have to be joking. That's the problem with you useless mages, doing simple things in a roundabout way!"

Marie kicked off the walls of the building, once again closing the distance between her and Freed. Somehow she managed to cut down his runes in an instant.

The vampire swung her weapon upward, once again forcing Freed to block. The force of the attack knocked the mage into the sky.

"Quick Flèche, turn him into a pincushion!"

A feline-like laughed echoed through the misty town before dozens of arrows descended upon Freed. They twisted and turned, like beams of light that had a mind of their own.

Freed blocked every one of them before he finally landed on a building. Soon after he found his footing, Marie climbed up the wall like a spider.

"I'm going to lock you in an inescapable room, you human!" Marie pointed her cleaver at the green-haired mage before she dashed towards him.

* * *

My body stiffened as Fran, and I stared down Riducle. The purple-haired vampire gripped her anchor. It became clear she wasn't going to make the first move.

"...All right then!" I lowered my body before jumping a few feet into the air. I reeled my fist back to strike my enemy, but Ridcule elegantly jumped away.

Without even sparing a glance, her weapon jetted from her arms.

"S-shit!" I leaned my body back as the anchor flew past my face. The chain continued to extend despite how short it appeared before.

While I was tempted to grab the flailing chain, I decided against it. Instead, I opted to roll under the weapon, giving Fran an opening to attack.

Fran slinked against the ground like some animal, as she attempted to close the distance between her and Riducle. Now would be the perfect chance. The large part of the anchor was nowhere near Fran.

At least that is what I assumed before the chain wrapped around impossibly. It had marked Fran as its target aiming for her back.

I opened my mouth to warn her, but it seemed she already understood what was happening. She flipped over the weapon stomping on the chain that allowed it to move about freely.

"Tsk." Ridcule tightened her grip on the chain, attempting to yank it from underneath Fran's foot.

"Armel, hurry up and attack her!"

Fran's words snapped me out of my daze. I lifted both hands, firing two Dark Crosses at the purple-haired vampire. Even if she could respond to the attack, one of her hands was holding the anchor.

Despite my words, Ridcule lifted her free hand, covering her face. The two attacks hit perfectly, but the weight of the anchor prevented her from flying off.

Chunks of her suit were torn apart, along with her skin. Despite that, she didn't show any fatigue. On the contrary, she didn't even seem to be in pain.

"You two are serious, huh?" The woman shook her head. "Out of all the demons you could have wanted, you had to come after this one." There was a hint fo whininess to her voice as the vampire's arm flexed. With a single yanked, she forced Fran off the chain, pulling the anchor back to her.

Fran landed beside me while Ridcule began twirling the anchor like a flail.

The weapon dug into the ground, each rotation it grew faster and faster. Turning into what appeared to be a fan of death that my eye could barely comprehend.

"Armel, duck!"

I hit the ground while Fran jumped. The anchor was more like a razer, tearing and cutting anything that entered its' range. Of course, that only accounted for the heavy part of the anchor. The chain itself was probably still rather weak.

"Oh, are you going to jump on the chain again? Is that even possible with it moving so fast?" Ridcule's lips curled.

Fran was still in the air, and the moment she handed, she would fall into the blender that was the Point Anchor. Of course, I had a feeling that even Fran knew that.

While in the air, Fran's eyes dilated. Then as fast of light, two sharp beams cut through her eyes and into Ridcule kneecaps.

Ridcule's playful expression turned to one of pain. To say her kneecaps were pierced would be an understatement. They were shattered upon impact.

"I've lost the use of my legs, but so will you..." Something was haunting about Ridcule's statement. The chain twisted and turned on its own, guided by the demon inside of it. In an instant, it turned to head straight for Fran.

"Huh?" Fran was still blinded by the attack she had just launched. So by the time she had noticed, the anchor had already cut off both her legs.

No, that wasn't right. The anchor was too blunt to cut, more that it broke off Fran's legs with sheer force. Fran figure spun in the air as both her legs land body hit the ground.

"F-Fran!" I motioned to run to her even if she was a vampire, that was just too harsh.

"Don't worry about me, finish her off. She can't move either!" Fran shouted. Her words caused me to stop in my tracks to see Ridcule kneecaps still recovering from being broken.

Fran was right. This would be my perfect opportunity to end the battle right then and there.

It seemed even Ridcule understood this. She lifted her arm while I prepared to dodge another strike from the anchor.

Though that didn't happen, instead, the weapon was flung into the air as if it had been tossed. I couldn't even comprehend what was going on before Ridcule was yanked along with it.

I finally understood what was going on. Since Ridcule's legs were unusable, she was going to use the anchor to escape. My mind raced for solutions until I found a simple one.

Once an object was thrown, it couldn't change direction, which means that it would be possible for me to 'catch' Ridcule. Of course, that presumption was ridiculous. The speed that she was going meant she would be at the edge of the city in a few seconds.

That'd be an impossible distance for any human to cross without the aid of some magic.

Then again, I wasn't human.

I leaned my body down and dashed. I put my full force into catching up with the object that was still in the sky. Buildings, structures all whizzed past me. Once I was in the general area where I thought Ridcule would land, I skid to a halt.

I did it. I managed to cross the span of the town in a few seconds. I looked up at the sky to see Ridcule prepared to land. I dug my foot into the ground, aiming for the arm that had the anchor chain wrapped around it.

I jumped off of the ground closing the distance between me and the still falling Ridcule.

"Wait, what are y-" She didn't even finish her statement as I kicked her arm with enough force to sever it.

The anchor crashed into the ground as Ridcule did the same. She bounced off the ground while I landed on my feet. She had been disarmed in more ways than one.

I prepared to attack her before I realized something. I didn't even need to keep fighting her. All I had to do was take the anchor and run.

I ran towards the weapon that the demon was attached to before I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. I noticed a small hole had somehow dug itself into my shoulder blade.

I looked back at Ridcule, who gnashed her teeth. Each time she did, they shattered. She then rolled the tooth shards in her mouth like candy and fired them at me.

She was using her own teeth like bullets.

I raised my arms while the teeth cut and sliced through me. Due to Ridcule being a vampire, I knew that her fangs would grow back rather quickly.

Despite being pelted by attacks, I still managed to inch my way closer to the Point Anchor, and by extension, the demon.

Right, when it seemed I was about the reach it, the weapons started to move by itself. Or rather, the demon attached to it tried to crawl away.

"I won't let you have that weapon!" Ridcule snapped. She then dashed towards me, her legs seemingly healed.

"Damn it!" I lifted my arms prepared for a fight. That was until someone else crashed into the anchor. I turned my head to see a familiar flowing dress.

"It appears that I made it in time." Fran smiled while she held the weapon above her head. She then grabbed ahold of the demon that was locked inside and ripped it off the anchor.

The fight was over. Unless Ridcule could find a way to defeat both Fran and me without and arm and the anchor, there was nothing she could do.

Strangely enough, she didn't cry out in frustration or stomp her foot. Instead, the well-dressed woman stood up and shrugged. "Talk about bad luck. I went through all that work, and now I have to go back empty-handed." The purple-haired woman then shook her head. "No, that's not true, my outfit got messed up, so I lost something."

The woman casually walked over to her torn-off arm and stuck it back onto her body. She then twitched her fingers, as if to check if all her nerves were working. "Keep the anchor; it's more trouble than it's worth."

I frowned. "That's it? After everything you've done, you're just going to leave?"

Ridcule tilted her head. "Hmm? Did I kill anyone you know or something?" She seemed to have been genuinely asking me that question.

"Of course not, but you devoured plenty of people here..."

The woman nearly broke out in a fit of laughter. "Try not to act too righteous; you're a vampire also. I'm also sure that vampire standing right next to you has devoured more people than you've met."

"..." I didn't respond, mostly because I knew she was right.

"Listen, girl. I'll ignore what happened today if you slink away like the snake you are." Fran finally spoke, which caused Ridcule to snicker.

"I get it. This job wasn't worth it anyway." The vampire then turned her back to us before she exited the misty town.

Even if we technically accomplished our goal, it felt like a hollow victory. What was worse was the fact that no one would find out what happened.

Then right when the mood was at its lowest, I heard a clap. My eyes darted to a nearby stone to see Marie clapping. Her dress was in tatters, but it seemed both her and her coffin made it out in one piece.

"Bien! It seemed you kept your end of the deal!" The green-haired vampire snickered as she held out her hand. "I do need the Point Anchor, however."

Fran tossed the heavy weapon over to Marie, who caught it with one hand. She then balanced the magical item on the tip of her finger. "Très bon! This is the genuine article!"

"Hey, about those Fairy Tail members..." I hesitated to ask what happened to them.

"Do not worry," Marie waved her hand as if she was waving away my fears. "I did not kill them; having a target on my back from the Fairy Tail guild would be bad news. Though I will say, they are indisposed for the moment. So if you need to do anything in the city, I suggest you finish it in the next hour."

That was a fair amount of time to gather all our stuff from the inn and split. We also needed to tell Ann about the results of the conflict.

"Um, Marie...thanks," I said that without really thinking about it. If it weren't for her, things would have gone far worse. I also needed to make sure I thanked Ann. While both women were doing it for their own gain, it was nice to have allies besides Fran for once.

"Non, non, thank you. I much rather fight humans than another vampire. Though it doesn't seem that your opponent was into it."

I couldn't deny the fact that it felt like Ridcule gave a half-hearted effort. "I'm just happy it's over." I sighed.

Marie clapped her hands and nodded. "Yes, yes, now then. I shall go east, and you can go west. I'm sure we'll meet again when someone else dies." With one last giggle, Marie walked in a seemingly random direction dragging her coffin along with her.

"I really can't put a pin on her," I said.

Fran scoffed. "If she is a student of Tola Dubos, she must be odd, but enough about that." The black-haired vampire held up the squirming squid-like demon. "You know what you must do, make sure nothing happens to my body while I sleep."

Before I could voice any recommendation, Fran shoved the monster into her mouth. Purple blood oozed from Fran's lips while she chewed. After a few seconds, the movements of the demon ceased as Fran swallowed.

This time I managed to catch her before she collapsed. I had no idea how powerful the demon was, nor how much closer it would get us in completing our goal. I just hoped it wasn't as lackluster as Lullaby.

I placed now sleeping Fran on my back. "I guess my next stop is the inn."

I walked through the streets. Despite all the threats being dealt with, the town didn't lose its unsettling nature. Of course, even if the person who caused the murders was gone, the deaths still occurred. The city itself probably wouldn't go back to normal for a few months.

Either that or the city will pin the blame on the Ghoul Spirit members.

I decided to put all the negative thoughts to the back of my head while I crawled through the inn's window. I decided to do that instead of going through the front door, mostly since Fran was covered in blood.

"Oh, you're back!" Ann's voice raised as she jumped from the bed. I realized while Fran and I were fighting, she was at the inn just relaxing.

"Yeah..." I sighed. "We took care of everything." I dropped Fran on the bed for a moment, which caused the silver-haired mage to inch her way to the sleeping vampire and poke her cheeks.

"Did she tucker herself out?"

I scratched the back of my head. I didn't think there was much of a point to explain Fran's biology to Ann. "You could say that...by the way, I just wanted to thank you."

Ann's eyes widened before she pressed her fingers to her lips. "No need, since I'm about to ask a favor from you anyway!"

My eye twitched. "Eh, isn't this enough?" I shot back. I wanted to have a heartfelt goodbye and remove Ann from my mind as quickly as possible. "I helped you escape, and you helped me find what I was looking for."

"Nope!" Ann responded with the subtly of a hammer. "Because of you, I'm kind of out of a place to crash. Besides, you look like the type of guy who's pretty easy to take advantage of. So if I ask you nicely, you'd probably say yes!"

The fact she was so open with her manipulation made the fact she was right harder to swallow. "If you want money, we got plenty of that to spare..."

"Bzzt!" Ann crossed her arms. "Money won't help get me home. I want something else."

Something else? What else could I give her? "Is this a booty call?"

Ann merely scoffed at my joke. "Please, I'd be naked if I wanted something like that!" Ann winked before she continued. "I want two things. One is a place to stay, being homeless sucks."

"That..." I didn't mind having Ann stay with me for a limited time, but I knew Fran would be against it. Of course, with her being completely unconscious, she didn't have much say in the matter. Besides, I didn't want Ann to go around telling people she encountered a bunch of vampires.

"Sure, what's the second one?" I was far more interested in the other request.

Ann closed her bright blue eyes and lifted her finger. "I need to find someone. His name is Mystogan. If we can find that man, I know I can get home for sure!"

"Mystogan..." The name didn't ring any bells, but I made a mental note to ask about it once I got back to Magnolia. "If it's to help you get home I don't mind looking around."

Fran and I were going to do a decent amount of traveling regardless. It wouldn't be too much of a problem to ask around for Ann.

"Awesome!" Ann cheered. "I'm so happy I might let you put my panties on for me!"

"That's not a reward at all!"

**Author Note**

**This was a somewhat action-heavy chapter. I decided to leave the fight between Freed and Marie somewhat ambiguous. Moreover, while I cut a lot from individual matches, I am satisfied with how they turned out.**

**I also need to get around to writing my commissions and my paid stuff. I love introducing unique ideas, and this does give me a week's buffer time.**

**Also thrilled, someone caught the fact that the laser eyes were a reference to Jojo.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

**Something funny happened to me on my way home from buying Hotdogs.**

I sighed as I opened the front door to the manor. The look of wonder and amazement on Ann's face was only matched by Fran's scowl over the silver-haired mage.

Fran had indeed grown from her last meal. She looked closer to a pre-teen instead of the ten-year-old from before. At the very least, it visibly told me we were one step closer to our goal.

"How did you guys get the money to afford a place like this?" Ann stepped into the overly large lobby, which prompted Fran to scoff.

"Even if I took the time to explain it, you most likely would not understand." The black-haired vampire flipped her har before she took a seat at one of the many chairs in the room. At the very least, it didn't collapse this time.

I placed our bags on the floor. "I guess we can relax for a few days before we go out again..." I didn't like the idea of going after demons back to back. Even if we were vampires, that sort of thing could get grating after a while.

"In other words, you're just lazy," Fran said those words without a hint of tact. So I decided to give a reply that matched her.

"Yeah pretty much, I want to sleep in for a couple of days and spend all your money."

Fran chuckled. "That's fine if you want to spend most of your day inside, it'd be an excellent opportunity for me to show you something."

Show me something, did she mean a new spell. I had just got comfortable with using Sharp Tearing Pew Pew Eyes, and she wanted to teach me something else.

"I don't mind..." I let out a heavy groan, which caused Fran to press her hands against her hips. Due to her added height, the once cute gesture seemed far more bratty.

"What's with that attitude? You should be happy that someone like me is taking time out of her vacation to teach someone like you."

I found her statement hilarious, even more so since we just got back from a 'vacation.' "All right, but I've got to do something first." I turned my attention back to Ann, who was examining each piece of furniture. No doubt, she was looking for the most comfortable sofa to sleep on.

"Ann, you said you wanted me to ask about a Mystogan guy, right?" That was the first step in getting her home after all.

Ann stapped to attention, like a cat that heard its favorite dinner bell. "Ah yeah, but don't mention me to the other Fairy Tail members okay."

"Yeah, I got it, anything else?" I didn't want to make too many trips back to the guild. Even more so since I knew everyone would ask where I have been.

"Ah well, if you insist I wouldn't mind you picking me up som-"

"Nevermind, I changed my mind," I said before I quickly walked towards the door.

"Ehhh! Don't tease me like that!" I heard Ann cry out before I shut the door to the manor.

I looked up to the sky, despite the sun being its rays never hit my body. I had gotten so used to being in the foggy town that I forgot how strange I looked when the weather was clear.

The guild was in the center of town when we arrived back at Magnolia I decided it was best to along the outskirts of the city. Knowing my luck, if I had decided to go through the city with Ann and Fran, someone from the guild would have stumbled upon us.

I walked down the steep incline, once again reminding myself just how creepy the area was. Even if it was technically in the walls of the city, it felt far too removed.

I made it back to the town proper. Just like the sun, the contrast of having people walking around refreshed me. Even if I didn't interact with people, it was a bit calming to be around them.

Though, now that I was there, I had to decide what route I would take to the guild. Upon reflection, it was a sort of dumb thing to give any thought.

The longer way through the stores, or the more direct route through the cafes and restaurants, though such a pointless decision probably didn't carry much weight.

I decided to go through the street with most of the cafes. I liked food after all, even if human food no longer did anything for me.

While I walked through the streets of Magnolia, my eyes caught a glimpse of something. Or rather a person that was standing outside of the many Café.

"Chico?" I raised my brow. There was no doubt about it, that was Chico. Even if she was wearing a stylized apron, her sedated gaze and cat hat sealed the deal.

Upon my vocalizing my shock, the ghost mage turned her attention to me. At first, I thought she would shrink back in embarrassment, but Chico did the exact opposite. She flipped her hair, lifted her hand, and struck a pose.

"Hey...why don't you come inside and grab a bite." Despite the enthusiasm, her body showed, her voice had its usual slow monotone inflection to it.

"D-don't just pretend I'm another customer!" I nearly shouted. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I work here..."

Oh, that probably should have been obvious. "Is the café paying for some cross-promotion with Fairy Tail or something?" If mages did interviews for magazines, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to do that sort of thing.

"No, sometimes we get hired to replace sick workers, but this has nothing to do with that." Chico ran her fingers through her blonde hair.

"Do you not make enough as a mage?"

Even though Chico's expression hadn't changed, I started to feel she was getting irritated at my barrage of questions. "My dad owns this cafe along with Fairy Hills. I work here when I'm not at Fairy Tail."

I didn't know the details, but it seemed that Chico's family was at least a little wealthy. "Ah, that's pretty cool."

Chico didn't respond to my praise. Instead, she asked a question. "Where are you going? I'll go with you." The mage said before she casually removed her apron.

"Is that okay?" I asked while Chico placed it on one of the signs. "Weren't you in the middle of a shift?"

"Yeah...but I didn't want to work it anyway. The only reason I said yes was that it was easier than saying no."

"That doesn't make it okay," I said. Though I had a feeling that no matter how much I explained that Chico wouldn't get it. "To answer your question, I'm going to the guildhall."

My words seemed to have shocked Chico, or rather that is at least what I assumed they did. "Do you not know what happened last night?"

"...No?" I got a striking feeling I would regret asking.

"The guild was attacked last night..." Despite it being rather dire, Chico had the same bored expression she always wore.

"S-seriously?" Why would someone go out of their way to attack an entire guild?

Chico started to walk ahead of me, urging me to follow. "I guess you might not have seen the building depending on where you entered the town from."

We turned a few more corners before the guildhall came into view. The moment I saw it, my heart skipped a beat. The building had been impaled like a pincushion. Iron rods jetted out of the sides and roof of the structure.

"You got to be kidding me..." I pressed my hand against my head. "How did something like that even happen?" It felt a bit hypocritical to be angry since I just joined the guild, but it'd be a lie to say it didn't put a damper on my mood.

"Someone from Phantom Lord came by and messed it up," Chico said as we walked through the streets. "Master says it'd be best if we ignore it for now, which is fine since I know someone else will take care of it."

I raised my brow before shoving my hands in my pocket. "Is it okay to be lazy in this sort of situation?" I mean, I had the same thought, but I wasn't going to vocalize it.

"Sure, by the way, what did you want to know?" Chico remembered my earlier statement.

I wondered just how in the loop Chico was with the happenings at the guild. While she seemed to have been a member for a decent amount of time, she seemed to have had her head in the clouds.

"Do you know someone named Mystogan?"

"Yes, but I never met him." Chico's response was quick. Even though it wasn't all the information I needed, it was enough for the time being.

"Do you know how I could contact him?" I scratched my head. I didn't want to be a slug and wait around for the guy to show up.

"Sorry..." Chico shook her head. "I'm just a low-level mage in Fairy Tail. I wouldn't know anything like that."

I narrowed my eyes. "Are you sure you're just not saying that because you're too lazy to look into it?"

Chico then stared at me with her usual bored expression before replying. "You're right. I am too lazy to look into it..."

"Don't just admit to it so easily!" I snapped. "Don't worry about it. I'll ask Mirajane once we get to the guild."

While I would have preferred to keep it to myself a bit longer, there was no need to drag it out. If Mystogan was apart of the guild, then someone must have known how I could contact him.

The two of us finally reached the guild proper. It was a bit strange to see the once imposing building reduced to such a state. Not only that but the fact that Phantom Lord had done it caused me a bit of concern.

That was the guild my brother belonged to. I didn't care about that detail, but it would have been a bit annoying if I had seen him after everything that went down with my dad.

We opened the door, to say the interior looked just as bad would have been an understatement. Luckily we didn't have to wait in the wrecked lobby for long as Mirajane walked out from the basement.

"How was your vacation, Armel?" Mirajane smiled while she brushed her long silver hair from out of her eyes.

"Don't greet me like that when the place is wrecked!" I probably should have gotten used to the casual attitude most Fairy Tail members had. It was still weird for that to be the first thing she asked about.

"Sorry, I just assumed you knew what happened since Chico is with you."

That was a fair assumption to make, "so the guild was attacked."

Mirajane nodded. "Luckily, the basement was untouched, so most of the members are there if you want to speak with them."

I thought about it for a moment. "Mirajane, I wanted to talk to you specifically."

Mirajane's eyes widened along with Chico's.

"Isn't it bad to ask a girl out in this sort of situation?" Chico chimed in with her usual monotone voice. "I think flowers or a music lacrima would work better."

My eye twitched, but before I got a chance to reply, Mirajane spoke.

"Sorry, but the answer is no, but please don't feel too bad," Mirajane added, which caused me to groan.

I should have felt more insulted that she said no that quickly. "Listen, I'm not asking you out. I just wanted to know about one of the members of Fairy Tail."

Mira tilted her head. "Huh, well, I think Laki would be a good fit for you," Mirajane said, now I was positive she was messing with me.

"This isn't about my love life. I wanted to know if you knew a person by the name of Mystogan."

Mirajane pressed her thumb to her lip. "I've seen him once or twice, but it's pretty hard to catch him. Your best shot of talking to him is to get lucky."

I was worried that would happen. I'd have to break the bad news to Ann once I got back to the manor though my promise to the white-haired mage reminded me of the white-haired mage standing in front of me.

At first, I didn't think much Ann's and Mirajane's similarities, but looking at the two women back to back made it almost uncanny. "Hey Mirajane, this might seem random, but do you have any cousins or anything?"

The blue-eyed mage seemed to be taken aback by the question. "No, well, at least none I would know. Can I ask why you'd like to know."

"N-no reason," I awkwardly laughed. I probably already pushed my luck too far, asking that. Ann did tell me she didn't want me to mention her, and I was dangerously close in doing just that. "I should head out. I realize I need to get done unpacking."

The moment I said that, a hint of disappointment came across Mirajane's face. "Don't you want to at least say hello to the others first?"

I waved my hand. "I'll let you take care of that."

Mirajane merely sighed. "If that is what you want, I'll tell Master that you've returned. You're not going to go on any more vacations anytime soon, right?"

I nodded. "I will probably be here for a few days at the very least. Besides, I wouldn't leave without at least telling you." Regardless of why I joined the guild, it would be rude to just up and leave without telling anyone.

"Guess I'll head down to the basement," Chico said while fixing her cat hat. "It'd be dumb for me to ditch work only to head back ten minutes later."

"You shouldn't have ditched work at all..." I chided Chico before I bid both her and Mirajane goodbye.

I didn't get a ton of info about Mystogan, but if Mirajane didn't know much about the guy, I doubted anyone else would have. Either way, the errand was finished, the only thing left to do was return to the manor.

Still, the whole situation put a bad taste in my mouth. Not just Mystogan, but the fact that Phantom Lord attacked the guild as well as Mirajane's uncanny resemblance to Ann.

The whole thing just put me on edge. Of course, upon reflection, it seemed pretty silly to worry about it. I just got back from fighting a demon and a vampire, so getting involved with the squabbles of two guilds should have been the least of my concerns.

Whatever the reason, I'm sure it'd be sorted out soon enough.

Once I reached the manor, I opened the front door to be greeted with Fran lying on a broken sofa. Between the time I left and now she had already changed clothes to suit her growing body.

"You were rather quick. I suppose you didn't find out much about this, Mystogan person."

I shook my head before my eyes wandered around the room. "Where's Ann?"

"She's in the bathroom," Fran said as she jumped off the couch before kicking it to the back of the room. I wished she would have been more gentle with the furniture since it was pretty old, but that might have been the reason why she was so rough with it. "Are you ready for your next lesson?"

"I just got back!" I quickly said. "Can't I at least talk to Ann first?"

Fran's expression twisted into a combination of disgust and disappointment. "So lazy, even though you had so much time to relax, you still want more..."

"Don't insult me so casually." I scratched the back of my head, trying to come up with a good retort. "Ah, fine, let's start. What do you even want to teach me?"

Fran crossed her arms, swaying her body back and forth. Her long dress and frills flowed with each movement. "Originally, I wanted to teach you how to make furniture, but I want to set out a specific time to do that."

I didn't know how being able to make furniture would be helpful, but I decided not to question Fran too much. "So, what am I going to learn instead?"

Fran merely chuckled. "Since I got more of my strength back, I can teach you properly." The black-haired vampire then lifted her right index finger, then without warning, she took her other finger and tore it open.

I winced while Fran pulled out a small bone from her hand. By the time the bone had been removed, it had already grown back.

"This is one of my bones..."

"I can see that!" I groaned. "I wish you didn't show me that in detail."

Fran merely scoffed. "You are going to have to start doing it yourself soon enough." The small vampire then balanced the bone on the tip of her finger before it turned into a giant spear.

I was a bit confused. "Huh, what did you do?"

Fran sneered as she placed the spear on the ground. "This magic is known as Embodiment of Flesh. It allows the user to takes bits and pieces of their flesh and body and craft items from it."

Of course, because it seems almost every vampiric spell had to be at least a little gross. "Can you give me a bit more detail than that?"

Fran's eyes narrowed. "Fine, just because you have that confused and pathetic look on your face." Fran cleared her throat. "It's a magic that cost very little ethernano to use. Though even if it did, due to you being a vampire, you probably won't ever run out of magic even in a fight."

I hated to keep asking questions, but since Fran was in an answering mood... "Is my body different than normal humans, well besides the obvious stuff."

I noticed the growing irritation on Fran's face. "Usually, humans have two magical containers, one is called First Origin, and the other is Second Origin. We vampires, however, don't have either, instead our entire bodies act as a container. Meaning we can hold many times more ethernano than even mages that have unlocked their second origins."

I was starting to understand. "I suppose I shouldn't have to worry about magical exhaustion then?" It made sense. I've kept Sun Sheild active since I've met Fran.

"This is also how we can keep our furniture active at all times if we wish, but enough about that." Fran then dug her nails into her finger once again, the bone from the tips of her digits created a tiny tree made up of flesh and fingernails.

It looked grotesque. "Are you going to teach me how to do something like that?"

"Of course!" Fran smiled. "We can start small, like using one of the bones in your hand to create a dagger. By the time you reached the height of this magic, you should be able to creature trees the size of towers with your tissue."

The joyous expression on Fran's face told me she was utterly oblivious to my hesitation. Of course, she would be, to her, this was using any other spell. For me, it was a bit more complicated than that.

"All right..." I looked at my left hand. I've experienced pain before. Chico nearly ripped out my intestines when she was possessed after all. Yet here I was, squirming over the idea of taking out a tiny bone in my hand. "Fine, let's get on with it!" Like a band-aid, I shoved my finger into my palm and ripped out a bone.

I gritted my teeth as the wound quickly healed. I now had one of my bloodied bones in my hands. "Now what?"

"Try to think of something small to embody it. While the bone looks small, using it as an anchor makes crafting things far easier than molder magic."

The instructions were vague, but I understood at a basic level. I attempted to do just that, and the bone both grew and morphed though the result was less of a dagger and more of a twisted pen.

Fran looked at the pathetic weapon in my palm. "Well, you tried your best..."

"Saying it like that makes me feel even worse!"

Fran merely chuckled as the tree she had planted started to break and crumble away. "Fear not my lowly master. I shall go through the arduous task of teaching you step by step."

That was just her way of saying she was going to keep me up all night.

Just when I was about to try again, the door to the bathroom flung open. Walking out was Ann with a satisfied look on her face, luckily she came out with clothes on.

"Ah, what? You're back already?" Ann let out a disappointed sigh. "If I knew you were here, I would have come out naked..."

I decided to ignore her crude remark and instead steered the conversation to her request. "The only thing I was about to find out about Mystagon is that he is a mage at Fairy Tail."

"That's fine," Ann replied, almost uncaringly. "At least we know that he's there."

I crossed my arms. "Oy, if you were going to act like that, I could have just done it tomorrow." I figured it was a pressing matter.

"The only pressing matter here is the fact you guys don't have a fridge!" Ann whined before she held her stomach. "Even if you two are vampires, you've got to think of your guests~!"

I recalled thinking of the same thing when Fran first bought the manor. Even if we didn't need human food, it'd be hard to explain away the lack of one to any visitors.

Fran ran her fingers through her pitch-black hair while she closed one of her eyes. "Ann, if you may be so kind as to be a good guest and take a look around the manor. I am sure you'd want to pick out a room for yourself."

Ann merely laughed at Fran's words. "I get it. I'm bothering you. I know when I'm not wanted!" The white-haired mage let out a play winged before she waved to me. "For that, I'm going to look through all your stuff and find your deepest darkest secrets!"

With that, Ann left the room, leaving Fran and me to practice more. The midday sun slowly turned into night, then as if a beast had been awakened from its slumber, one of the bedroom doors flew open.

"Enough, waiting!" Ann cried out. "If I don't get something to eat, I'll die!"

I scratched my head as I looked at the misshapen constructs I've made. "Oy, do you know how late it is?" I grumbled. "You should have asked this a few hours ago!"

Ann merely pressed her hand to her hips. "I was trying to be polite, but it seems that I have some pretty rude hosts."

The moment those words escaped Ann's lips, Fran's eye twitched. "If we are so rude, you are free to stay in one of the many hotels in the city."

Ann wrinkled her nose. "And here is Fran with her jokes." I was positive Fran wasn't joking, but I didn't know if Ann realized that."

"All right, I get it." I decided to defuse the situation before it escalated. "Why don't you just go out to get something to eat yourself?"

"I'd love to, but someone might recognize me."

I was positive that Ann was using that as an excuse not to go out. "All right, don't know what places would still be open, but I'll try to find you something."

Ann nodded as if she had triumphed over a demon. "I need something with a lot of protein since I'm going to try to work out and play some sports tomorrow.

That's right. No girl would wear spats and not be into sports of some kind. "Fine, I'll try to find you a hotdog or something."

"A hotdog?" Ann's nostrils flared before she chuckled. "Of course you'd want to see me eat something like that, you are a guy after all."

"Hahaha," I laughed as I left the manor. The moment I went outside, I noticed the moonlight on my body. It was sort of nice to have some light bounce off me properly.

Though now I had another problem. What kind of food place would be open this late? Well, if worse came to worse, I'd wander the restaurant area for a while before heading back.

I walked through the desolate streets of Magnolia. I suppose considering the season and time. It made sense for no one to be around.

My mysterious journey to find a food place almost ended in failure, that was until I located a lone food kart. I looked at the owner as he looked at me. Almost as if the two of us understood just how weird it was for either of us to be out at this time.

I walked up to him; the fresh smell of sausage and meat fill my nose. "Kind of late to be selling whiners..."

"Kind of late to be buying them."

The man's curt response made me smile. "I get it. I'll take two hotdogs with mustard." I didn't care much for hotdogs, but I had a feeling that Ann would need at least that many.

The man nodded as he made up my food and handed it to me. I looked at the two meat links. "There isn't acid in these, is there?"

"Of course not!" The man eye twitched, but he quickly laughed off my comment. "I guess that was a logical thing to ask since I'm selling this at midnight."

I wanted to ask him why he was doing that, but I decided against it. "I'd love to chat with you, but I got to get this back home."

I quickly made my way through the streets. While I wanted to run as fast as possible, I didn't want to accidentally crush the hotdogs. Instead, I opted to take the back paths through the city.

Though up reflection, I probably should have just taken the typical path. The shopping district seemed even eerier than the food district, and this time there wasn't a cheerful hotdog vendor to keep me company.

Despite that, I kept my course. That was until I heard a few voices headed my way. I doubted it would have been muggers, no one trying to mug anyone would just be talking so casually.

"Geez, I wanted to avoid people," I whined. I was nearly back to the manor, but now I had to risk having a conversation with someone.

Still, I kept my course walking straight head as three figures appeared in front of me.

I vaguely recognized them, they were Fairy Tail Members, but their names completely escaped me.

"Oh, hey, it's the new guy." The Blue-haired girl smiled before she waved at me. I attempted to wave back but realized I had a hotdog in each hand, so I smiled instead.

"H-hey!" A part of me hoped they wouldn't try and start a conversation.

"What's a guy like you doing out here at this time?" The orange-haired man asked with the overly broad hat.

"You know, a friend of mine wanted hotdogs, and I went to get them for her." When I said it out loud, it sounded like a lie I had made up on the spot.

"If that's the case, we probably shouldn't be keeping you then." The blue-haired girl flashed me a smile. Now I felt sort of bad for not knowing their names.

Just as we were about to part ways, I felt a shiver run down my spine. My eyes darted to one of the roofs to see a figure crouching as if waiting to pounce.

Yeah, no doubt that wasn't normal. My eyes sharpened, could it be some demon or vampire? It'd just be my sort of luck to run into something like that on a trip.

"Damn, it's not like I can go back to not noticing it."

It seemed the figure agreed as it jumped from the roof.

"H-hey, you three, get out of here!" I turned my head only to be knocked back by something. I skid against the ground, past the three Fairy Tail. Luckily I kept my grip on the hotdogs.

The bruise on my cheek had already healed by the time I got back to my feet. The person in front of me had long black-scruffy hair, though their most striking feature was the piercings all across their face.

"Here, I thought one punch would be enough to take you out."

"T-that guild mark," the blue-haired mage that was now in front of me stuttered. "He's apart of Phantom Lord."

That explained that mystery. At least I knew he was human, but I wouldn't say I liked the looks of the situation. I could probably escape in an instant, but then I'd be leaving three people behind.

I could probably carry the three and run, but then that'd be giving away my vampiric nature. The most natural solution would be just let the three mages run, and I distract him until I could ditch.

"I suppose you wouldn't just want to talk about this, huh?" I chuckled nervously. The worst thing about the situation was that the hotdogs were getting cold. Even if I were attacked, Ann would think it was an excuse for me being lazy.

"What? I didn't think you fairy wimps would be such cowards."

That insult was pretty terrible, but I decided not to worry about it. I mentally asked Ann for forgiveness before I scarfed down the hotdogs I had just bought.

"Says the guy who had to wait until everyone was gone to attack our guild!" The mage with the weird hair spoke up, causing me to groan.

While it was impossible to defuse the situation at that point, I would have liked to try.

What was worse, it seemed that the comment somehow got under the Phantom Lord mage skin. "Fine then, guess I'll pluck your wings!"

**Author Note**

**Start of the Phantom Lord Arc.**

**I probably could do a bit more proofreading on this chapter. Tighten up some prose etc, but I want to release it in a timely manner. **

**The original plan was to have Armel learn servant magic, but I decided to push that back to the next arc. I also wanted to have the main offensive magic he employs to be something...unique.**

**So instead of blood, flesh, and bone seemed to have my viability. Plus, it's different enough from maker magic since the objects aren't made purely out of the element and magic.**

**What do you think of Ann's character so far BTW. **


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

**We both should be careful on nights like this.**

I grumbled while I stared down the Phantom Lord mage. The way he smiled somewhat irritated, though it was still slightly tamed compared to some of the grins that Fran and the other vampires pulled off.

"Isn't this stupid?" I let out an almost defeated sigh. "Having pride in your guild is one thing, but stalking people at night is taking it to a different level."

The black-haired mage didn't even reply. Instead, he reeled his fist back, despite the distance I was already on edge. My hunch came true as an iron club jetted out of his arm, no rather his arm turned into a club.

My eye twitched while I moved my body, narrowly avoiding the attack. Unfortunately, the orange-haired mage standing behind me wasn't so lucky.

"Gah!" He was smacked straight in the chest with the attack. Truthfully I had completely forgotten that the other three was with me.

"J-Jet!" Both of his friends called his name while they ran to his side. I prepared to do the same thing before the club started to move.

"Don't you think you should be focusing on me!"

The mage took a swipe at me with his extended club forcing me to duck. While my body was lowered, the mage lifted the weapon into the air.

I once again moved, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the attack. I looked over to the three Fairy Tail mages who managed to get their friend onto his feet.

It seemed they had every intention of leaving, which was fine by me.

"You're a nimble little snake, huh?" The red-eyed man laughed. "That's why I decided to target you first!"

I just put up my hands while he dashed towards me with his weapon. He continued to swipe at me with his iron club, while I looked for an opening.

I found the perfect one as he brought down the club again. This time cracking the street and cement. Instead of avoiding it altogether, I barely dodged it.

I then lifted my foot and brought it down hard on the club, locking it in place. Without even thinking, I brought up my hand, firing a dark cross straight in his direction.

"Tsk!" The man scoffed while he lifted his free arm blocking the attack. Despite it being a direct hit, it seemed to have only done slight damage.

"I'll give you that fairy, you don't seem to be as worthless as you look." He then laughed. "Though, don't you think you should be watching your feet?"

His words forced me to look down. The iron club that I had pinned to the floor was growing smaller metal staffs. By the time I realized what was happening, my face and chest had already been struck.

I winced while I was flung back. By the time I landed on the ground, my broken nose had already been healed. It still didn't stop me from instinctively wiping it while I stood up.

I took the chance to look over to see if the fairy tail members were still around. Luckily it seemed they took the opportunity to skedaddle.

"I suppose you wouldn't want to call it quits now, would you?" I asked from the bottom of my heart.

"Gahaha!" He just laughed at my plea before his club morphed into a blade.

I wanted to run. I knew I could outrun him with ease. Despite that, though, he most likely would have followed me. If Fran were, she'd probably have told me to take the direct approach.

Someone can't follow you if they're dead.

Of course, I wasn't going to go that far, but someone like he probably wouldn't have stopped until he body couldn't go on.

"Yeah...if that's the case..." I ran towards the phantom-lord mage. My body was as low to the ground as it would allow me.

For a split second, the mage's face change from a smile to a look of shock. Perhaps he didn't expect me to dash towards him, or maybe it was the speed I was moving at.

Regardless he didn't even have time to make a remake before I had closed the distance. Instead, he opted to lift his blade and bring it down on my shoulder.

I had no intention of avoiding the attack or even blocking it. Instead, I let the blade cut into my shoulder, which gave me the perfect chance.

"What the hell are you d-" I didn't let him finish as I punched him straight in the face, allowing his blade to slide against the bones in my shoulder.

The attack nearly sent him flying, but before he went too far, I grabbed his leg and slammed him back into the ground. I then lifted my foot and violently started to stomp on his chest.

"Bastard!" He snapped. Before I realized he was doing, I felt two sharp spear-like objects pierce my body. The force of the attack pulled me back, pinning me on the nearby wall.

I coughed a bit, noticing the iron rods in my shoulder and side. I grabbed both of them while my enemy staggered to his feet.

Even though my assault was short, it seemed to have left its mark. Truthfully I had planned to end the fight with that, hoping to knock him out.

"The hell is wrong with you?"The man hissed while he held his chest before he coughed.

I tried to pull the spears out of the wall, but they were stuck in there rather well. Which meant the only way off the building as if I pulled myself off.

I planted my feet onto the wall before I kicked off it. The moment I did, I yanked my body off of the iron poles. I staggered forward while blood leaked out of my wounds. I coughed a bit while I sat on one knee. In a matter of seconds, my scars were healed, something that my enemy took note of.

"You're some freak, aren't you?" The mage laughed bitterly while he held his chest.

I couldn't deny his words. If I had been an average mage, this fight would have been over by now, and it would have been his victory. But because I was a vampire, the only one who was harmed by our exchange was him.

"Hey, let's end this here." I managed to get back on my feet. "We both need to be careful on nights like these. Your first victim might not be as weak as he looks..."

There was no need to continue. I had no interest in fighting for the pride of my guild or anything like that. I just wanted to get some hot-dogs and go home.

Sadly it seemed my enemy took offense to that.

"Do you think just because you broke some of my bones and cracked a few of my ribs, I'd stop?" The mage then lifted his arm while a magic circle appeared underneath him. "You won't even be able to hurt me after this!"

Slowly but surely, metal started to cover his skin. For a split second, I thought I was dreaming, but once his body had been completely coated, it was clear it was reality. "Let me show you why they call me Gajeel, the iron dragon!"

I gritted my teeth. In the span that it took me to brace myself, Gajeel closed the distance. He reeled back his fist, preparing to punch me, which prompted me to block the attack.

When we clashed, I felt the bones in my forearm starting to bed. I gritted my teeth while Gajeel reeled his foot back. I held my ground as his heel dug into my arm.

That was all my arm could take as the bone snapped. The top half of my limb hung loosely while I was kicked away.

I bounced against the ground before I jumped up on a nearby building. I ignored the pain while I set my bone back into place. "Damn it, if this keeps happening, I'll get too used to having my bones broken."

I made light of my current predicament until I noticed Gajeel gaze staring up at me. He then placed his hands in front of his mouth and took a deep breath.

I knew what was going to happen next as I lept from the building. The mage then let loose a roar of steel and metal that cut straight through the top of the building.

I managed to avoid the shards of metal that danced about, but it did create another issue. This fight was causing a lot of collateral damage. Cracking a street here or there was one thing, but blowing the roofs off of buildings was something else.

I landed on my back, still wondering why he was so obsessed with keeping this fight going. Pride had to have had a limit. Even a mage like him must realize the longer the fight goes on, the more dangerous it is for both of us.

"What are you doing lying around like that!"

His voice was the only thing I needed to get back on my feet. I narrowly avoided a slash from his blade, the force of which sliced through the nearby buildings.

Since he was so close, I attempted to punch him, only for my knuckles and fingers to break. I held my hand before I jumped away, narrowly avoiding a kick.

"Didn't I say that you won't be able to hurt me again? My iron scales are invincible!"

I sighed, typically the person who says that sort of thing are the first to be taken out. Of course, I thought that, but I don't think I had a spell to break through his skin, except one.

"There you go, spacing out again!" Gajeel lifted his arm as the metal around it turned into a distorted spear. Then, like arrows, a dozen or so metal spears came shooting towards me.

I staggered to avoid them, only for one to slice my leg open. I tumbled forward while Gajeel's arm changed again, this time back to his blade.

The Phantom Lord mage lept into the air, preparing to deliver the finishing blow before I made my decision. A spell I know that would defeat him for sure, one that I said I wouldn't use on a human no matter what...

My eyes widened, locking onto my target. " Sharp Tearing Pew Pew Eyes!"

"What the hell did just sa-" Gajeel was cut off due to being by two sharp beams. Even though I was blinded, I could tell the attack ripped straight through his metal skin like it was paper.

I remained silent while he fell to the ground with a thud. I tore out the piece of metal in my leg before standing up. It'd take a minute for my eyes to heal due to them being a more complex organ compared to a bone or a shoulder.

Once the minute had passed, I finally got a good look at Gajeel. He was face down on the ground, blood leaking out of him. Despite his condition, the mage still attempted to get up, the steel that guarded him had vanished.

"S-seriously? Don't you think that's enough?" From the looks of it, my attack had hit some pretty important stuff. If he were smart, he'd end the battle and go to the hospital.

The metal mage merely smirked. "Do you think a hole in my chest and stomach is going to be enough to put me down?!" He attacked me just as he did when the fight started, with a large club that jetted out of his arm.

This time, however, it was far slower, slow enough for me to dodge and grab. I then lifted both it and Gajeel into the air and slammed him into the ground.

Yeah, the fight was over. The victory only being decided because Gajeel was human, and I was a vampire. Whatever he was doing now was just a weak attempt to feed his pride.

"You...should go to the hospital, or at least back to your guild." If he kept going on like this, he'd end up killing himself.

"That attitude of yours pisses me off!" Gajeel coughed up blood. I noticed his attempt to use his magic to mend his bones and wounds, but that wouldn't be enough. "If you want to run away like a coward, go ahead, but as long as you are standing there, I'll keep on attacking you."

"...Okay, I get it," I said before I lifted both of my hands. "I give up, you win. You can tell your guild you beat me up or whatever."

Anyone with half a brain could see he wouldn't be able to attack anyone in his state.

Despite my words, it just seemed to have pissed him off even more. "Saying shit like that pisses me off even more!" He took a deep breath before letting out another, far weaker roar.

I jumped onto a nearby building, but instead of engaging him any further, I opted to leave. Leaping across the rooftops, ending the battle that shouldn't have started.

My clothes were tattered and filled with holes, but besides that, I had no bruises or marks that indicated that I've been in a fight. Something I knew couldn't have been said for Gajeel.

Speaking of the Phantom Lord mage, the way he fought reminded me a lot of Natsu, right down to breathing an element. I wondered if they used similar magic or something.

Either way, I attempted to remain unseen, just in case I needed to lie. Once I arrived back at the manor, I took a deep breath. I had been gone far longer than I should have, for good reason. I simply had no idea how I was going to explain what happened to Ann and Fran.

I walked through the front door to see a familiar white-haired woman dash towards me, like a dog greeting its owner.

"Yo, Armella, where's my food!"Ann lifted her hand, which prompted me to gnash my teeth. For a split second, I completely forgot about Gajeel.

"Oy, don't turn my name into a girl's name!" I groaned while I pressed my finger to her forehead. "Besides, I don't have your food. Something happened to it on my way back!"

Ann's cheeks puffed as the sound of a door shutting entered my ears. I looked over to the hallway to see Fran walking out of the many rooms.

"Ah, Young Man, you are back. Did you bring me honey-laced yogurt as I asked?"

"You didn't ask me to bring you that at all!" I pointed out.

After a few seconds, I noticed Fran scanning my figure. She most likely saw my torn shirt and ripped pants from my battle with Gajeel. "Did a group of lustful women get their hands on you?"

"Out of all the things to assumed that happened..." I couldn't even be surprised at that point. "I was attacked by a mage from Phantom Lord. I managed to beat him, but I'm pretty sure he noticed my healing abilities."

With those words, Fran's playful expression turned dower. "I see, so you let this mage go? Despite what it could mean?"

The way Fran raised her voice made me feel like my mother was scolding me. "Don't worry. Even if he tells everyone, no one is going to believe him..."

Gajeel didn't even know I was a vampire; the only thing he knew was that I had unnatural healing abilities. There were plenty of creatures I could have been, all that was easy to deny.

"Hmph..." Fran huffed before she sat on the couch, her fist buried deep into her cheek.

Ann, on the other hand, examined me further. "Well you look all right, why didn't you get my food?"

Was she still on that? I swear I could get my legs cut off, and Ann would still be wondering where her meal was. "Sorry you'll have to wait until tomorrow morning."

The look on Ann's face could only be described as devastated. It did look like someone had thrown her pet cat down a well. "Y-you can't do that. I'll die, my stomach will digest itself!"

"Sorry, but it'd be stupid for me to go out again like this," I said. "Maybe in five or six more hours at dawn, I'll swing by and grab you something."

I couldn't help but have a strange sense of whiplash. I went from fighting for my life to talking about what I was going to get Ann to eat. It felt like the only one who was worried about what just happened was me.

"By the way, are you going to tell your guild what happened?" Fran let out a cute yawn, which prompted me to cross my arms.

It's not like I would be able to hide it from them. Those other three fairy tail members saw me; at most, I could say I ran away. "I'll come up with a good excuse to cover my tracks."

Fran's nostrils flared. "Fine, this is a bore. I am going to bed."

I expected the black-haired vampire to stand up, but instead, she shifted her position to that of a corpse being put into a coffin. Fran then placed her hand on her heart and shut her eyes.

I knew she was already asleep, which caused me to groan. "I thought we were going to practice all night?" I got the distinct feeling I managed to piss her off.

"Normally, I would make a sex joke, but I'm way too weak to do it right now." Ann collapsed onto the floor, her but halfway in the air.

It was hard to feel pity for her when I nearly got a ton of metal rods shoved up my bum because of those damned hot-dogs. "My clothes got torn up because of you, so you can't whine."

Ann let out a half-hearted whimper. "If you would make you feel better, you can tear off my clothes..."

"That wouldn't make me feel better at all!" I huffed. "I'm going to take a shower. You can keep doing what you're doing."

"Fine then! I hope acid comes out of the showerhead and burn your skin off!" Ann playfully stuck out her tongue while I slid into the bathroom.

Once separated from the others, I leaned my body against the door and cursed myself. Once I composed my thoughts, I went through what would happen next through my head.

Would he come back for revenge? He doesn't know my name or where I live, but it'd be a massive pain to worry about that constantly. If not him, would other members from his guild try to target me?

Was he even acting from orders on his guild? He could have just been a hot-headed member that went out on his own.

Thinking about it, his magic matched what happened to the guildhall. He was most likely the culprit if I had connected that early I might have dragged him back to the guild.

"Who am I kidding? This entire thing is pointless." I scratched my head. I decided to just put it out of my mind until the morning. There was legit nothing I could do about it now anyway.

Most of the members were probably at home. If I wanted to talk to them, I'd have to wait until tomorrow. I attempted to nestle my worries to the back of my head before I started my shower, concluding my day.

**Author note**

**This chapter, man. I was freaking out since I wanted to show Gajeel's abilities, while also making it evident that the only reason Armel won the fight was due to him being a vampire.**

**I also didn't know what the right length for the fight was. Two thousand words seemed like enough since I would have to repeat set pieces.**

**As you can see, the Phantom Lord arc is already completely different since I didn't want to rehash the arc from the manga completely.**

**Even if Gajeel is taking out, Natsu is still going to have a big fight, don't worry. I have something special planned for him.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

**What is Fairy Tail to You?**

I rested in my bed, or rather I attempted to rest. The previous night had stirred my anxiety enough that I got the bare minimum of sleep. At least that is what I assumed. I didn't have a clock in my room. It could have been anywhere between morning or noon.

"I should probably get up..." I let out a defeated sigh lifting the top half of my body as if I was rising from a coffin. I then placed both of my hands on my chest, casting Sunshield. "Okay, first thing's first, I should proba-"

My thoughts were cut off by a knock at my door. I froze, typically there was nothing wrong with getting a knock at one's door, but after the night I had before, I was on edge.

A part of me wanted to ignore it. Depending on the time, there wasn't anything unusual about ignoring someone's attempts to get your attention this early in the morning. Of course, if I did that, there was a chance that either Fran or Ann would answer it.

I planted my feet on the ground and inched made my way out of my room and into the main hall. I carefully stuck close to the walls, careful not to give away my positons from one of the main windows.

It was a manor after all if someone wanted to peek in and see me they easily could have... and they did. From the corner of my eye, I noticed a silver-haired woman peeking into my home. It didn't take me long to put two and two together.

"What is Mirajane doing here?" I whispered, of course, since it was just Mirajane, my plan of pretending not to be home could go off without a hitch. All I had to do was keep quiet, and she'd get bored, I'm sure whatever the reason she is here it had to do with the guild.

"Armel, I know you're just pretending not to be home..." I heard Mirajane call from the other side of the door. Was it that obvious? I decided to wait for a minute to test her, but her next reply made that problematic.

"Ah~ maybe you really aren't home. Then that means you're missing, the only reasonable thing to do is break into your house and look for clues."

"Oy, that's not reasonable at all!" I groaned while I lifted myself from my hiding spot. It became clear that Mirajane wasn't leaving unless she talked to me. I opened the front door revealing the Fairy Tail mage smiling face.

"You were in your house talk about a surprise!"

My shoulders slumped. "You knew all along, but ignoring that...what's up?" Mirajane wouldn't have come out here for no reason.

Mirajane's cheeks then puffed before she placed her hands on her hips. "It's obvious isn't? You ran into a Phantom Lord mage last night."

I winced, news had already spread that quickly. Of course, it would have three Fairy Tail mages saw me there. I'm honestly shocked they didn't send someone sooner.

"That guy, right?" My fingers ran through my hair while I attempted to pretend the events from the previous night had no meaning. "Nothing much happened, so you don't have to worry about it."

With those words, I noticed Mirajane's eyes scan my body. "You don't seem to have any scars, but I should escort you back to the guild house to be safe."

"Isn't that a bit much?" I asked. "I was safe for the entire night. What is an extra hour or two going to do?" At least that is how I saw the situation. If Phantom Lord hadn't sent anyone after me yet, I doubt they had any real intentions on doing so.

Mirajane scratched her cheek. "Well... it's not about your safety. It's more because if I leave you here, you'd probably won't show up. You have been hanging out with Chico after all, and she does that sort of thing often."

I...couldn't fault her for that. I had every intention of just not showing up, but it seemed that was impossible now.

"Okay, wait here for a bit while I get ready."

"Hmm? You aren't going to invite me in?" Mirajane asked innocently. In any other situation, I'd probably have, but since I knew both Ann and Fran were around, it'd be suicide. Those two had to stay hidden no matter what.

"Sorry." I scratched the back of my head. "My house is a bit of a mess. It'd be rude to let a girl in with how it looks right now." A weak excuse, but one that I decided to use.

"Okay, then I'll wait right out here for you!" Mirajane waved, allowing me to slink back into the manor. The moment the door closed, my gaze shifted to the ceiling only to be greeted with two red eyes staring down at me.

I pushed down my instinctive reaction to flinch as I scanned the figure. It was Fran, her fingers and toes glued to the wood of rafters. She stared at me, not saying a word, most likely due to still being in ear-shot of Mirajane.

Even though the vampire didn't say anything, her eyes told me enough. With that short exchange done, Fran crawled across the ceiling once again and entered her room.

"I guess I should hurry up myself." It didn't take long for me to slip something on and meet Mirajane outside. Luckily Ann didn't accidentally leave her room. Even if I didn't know the context of the situation, I could only imagine her and Mirajane meeting being awkward.

"We're going to the guildhall...right?" I stepped out of the manor. For some reason, the moment I stepped outside, Mirajane's eyes were glued to me, as if there was something on my face. "Huh, is there something wrong?"

Mirajane's eyes widened before she shook her head. "Ah, no, it's just...it's sunny today, isn't it?"

That was a random comment to make, but she was telling the truth. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. If I didn't have my sun shield active, I would have been a pillar of flames.

"Sure, I guess it's the type of day where walking doesn't sound too bad." Despite my words, I technically walked everywhere. Maybe it wouldn't have been a bad idea to invest in a magical vehicle or at least a bike.

The two of us made our way off of the creepy hill that housed the manor and back into town. The more I walked through Magnolia town, the more comfortable I became to the city. I still wasn't ready to call it home, but I liked it well enough.

"By the way, I've meant to ask you. What is your and Chico's relationship?" Mirajane asked that without a hint of hesitation. Even though she seemed to be one of the calmer members of the guild, she still lacked a bit of tact.

"Hey, can't you phrase that in a less cliche way?" It sounded like someone would say in a cheap romance novel. "And to answer your question, she's a friend of mine."

Was Chico my friend? Probably, at least that is how I saw it. At the very least, she was the only one from Fairy Tail I could confide in if weird stuff started to happen.

"Hmm..." Mirajane pressed her finger to her lips. "You do seem like the type that would feel more comfortable around older women."

"This has nothing to do with age!" My eye quickly replied. "Things just happened to go that way...that's all." My feet slowed down the closer we got to the guildhall. Perhaps it dawned on me that I'd have to explain what happened last night.

I wasn't sure if Mirajane was convinced by my statement or not. Though considering we were at the guildhall, it didn't matter.

"We do need to start thinking about repairs..." Mirajane let out a sigh while she slipped through the large iron bars that littered the building.

She wasn't wrong; it still looked like a mess both inside and out. A part of me suspected that they wouldn't start fixing up the place until the issue with Phantom Lord was solved. There wasn't much of a reason to start working on it if it was just going to be attacked again.

We traveled to the basement of the building. I hoped most of my guildmates would be gone, but the moment I descended the final step, I noticed the cramped space was packed. Most of the members were there.

"Hey, you're here!" A familiar pink-haired mage waved at me, causing me to wince. I didn't know what to expect, but I had hoped I'd be able to have a quiet conversation with Master. "You fight one fo those bastards from Phantom Lord, right?

"Wow, word did spread." Mirajane eyes widened. "I suppose Levy was worried about what happened to you." The white-haired mage then led me to the table where our Master was sitting.

It was sort of strange. Despite the short man's stature, he had a relaxed posture that made me wonder if he was even the one that called me here.

"Oh, you finally made it..." The man raised his hand as if greeting an old friend he hadn't seen in a while. "I figured you'd be hiding somewhere."

I Couldn't help but give a slight frown. Was my reputation that bad that I got known as the guy that spends all day in his manor alone?

"Well you know, family st-"

"Hey, I heard you fought one of those Phantom Lord guys, what happened?" Natsu pushed his way past a few of his guildmates. I mean, of course, he would, if I knew one thing about Natsu is that he had a tremendous amount of pride in Fairy Tail.

"Don't cut him off, Natsu." Erza chimed in, as she stood next to the pink-haired mage. "I'm sure he was getting to that part..."

I opened my mouth. But I had no idea how it would be possible to spin last night's encounter as something not to worry about. "Well, after Levy and her friends left, that Phantom Lord mage...tripped and broke his nose."

Upon reflection, that was the most idiotic excuse I could have come up with. Of course, I couldn't say I fought him off, nor did I have the creativity to come up with a good lie. So my brain defaulted to a lousy lie instead.

There was a moment of silence in the room. That was until someone started to laugh.

"This guy is a real comedian!" I heard someone yell as more mages joined in with the cheers and laughter. I suppose it would sound funny if no one knew the context of the situation.

Master Makarov closed his eyes then let out a cheerful laugh. "That makes sense Phantom Lord mages always have been pretty clumsy now that I think about it!"

My body froze, did he believe that? A part of me wanted to point out how stupid my lie was but kept my mouth shut — no need to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Though I have to ask, did you manage to get the name of the mage that attacked you?" Master asked.

I quickly searched my memory. "Ah, I think his name was Gajeel."

The once roaring laughter fo the guildhall vanished. Replaced with silence and a strange, awkward feeling similar to one where someone leaves a bad joke to hang for a little too long.

"W-what's with all those looks?" I asked.

"Are you sure you're not mistaken?" Master crossed his arms, making me think about my next statement. I didn't want to get dragged into this mess more than I had to. As far as I was concerned, the issue between the two guilds was just that, an issue between two guilds.

"Maybe..." I shifted uncomfortably. I was positive his name was Gajeel, but I could easily refract that statement if it meant that I'd have to go into further detail. "Is that name important or something?"

"He's the one that did this to the guild." Gray chimed in leaning in his seat. "That guy is one of the strongest mages in Phantom Lord. If I'm blunt, someone like you shouldn't be standing here if you encountered him."

A frown crept across my face. Of course, I'd have such bad luck to encounter someone like that. "Then I must have gotten confused with someone else."

I was willing to leave it at that. At that point, it didn't matter if I was telling the truth or not. No one else will know what happened the previous night.

"Yeah..." Chico waved from one of her seats. It seemed she was listening in on the conversation. "Armel is so weak he'd probably trip and break all the bones in his body. He couldn't fight someone that strong."

My eye twitched while I forced back a glare. I knew what Chico was doing. She was trying to make me look pathetic so that no one would ask too many questions. Still, she could have picked some better words.

"Regardless if that is true or not, Levy and the others were still attacked last night." Erza inserted herself back into the conversation. "Perhaps filling out an official complaint to the Magic Council would be our next step."

The moment the council was brought up, Master let out an irritated groan. "Things haven't gotten that bad yet! Besides, most of those old coots would just chalk it up to both guilds acting up."

I had no idea if that would happen, but everyone in the room most likely had a better grasp of the checks and balances of the magical world than me.

"I suppose I should be heading home." I stretched a bit, but my simple action caused Mirajane to pout and place her hand on her hips.

"Can't you at least wait for Levy? I'm sure she wants to thank you personally."

I placed my hands in my pocket and shook my head. "It's all right. It's not like I helped them just to get a thank you, if they are safe that's all that matters." Like I said before, people are inherently selfish. Expecting someone to repay a debt no matter how big or small, seemed silly.

Of course, Mirajane was having none of it. "Does that matter? Levy is the one that wants to thank you. It's not going to hurt by letting her at least do that much."

I opened my mouth to counter, but I honestly couldn't. I didn't know much about Levy, but if her not being able to thank me would bother her, then I could at least talk to her.

"Okay, okay, I get, but can you at least tell me where she is? I don't want to wait around here all day for her." That didn't seem like a productive use of my time, though it really was because staying around all the members of Fairy Tail kind of put me on edge.

Mirajane pressed her finger to her lips. "Levy said she was picking up some flowers Jet since his face got a bit swollen from the fight last night. She should be back soon, but if you want to meet her there, she should be in the shopping district."

"Thanks!" I nodded, preparing to leave the basement of the guildhouse. Of course, the moment I did, I noticed Chico nearly tracing my steps.

"Sorry, I realized I needed to pick up something for my dad. You can help me with that..." Chico said in her usual slow tone.

For some reason, it felt like she was just using that as an excuse to talk to me away from the others. Of course, someone with my intelligence picked up on that instantly.

"Sure, we are both heading to the same place." With that, the two of us left the basement as well as the ruins of the guildhall. I did wonder how long it would take for repairs to official start.

Chico and I walked down the street while I eyed the ghost that floated carelessly around her. I was waiting for her to reveal why exactly she wanted to come along.

"So, Chico, why did you want to come along anyway?"

"No reason, I did need to pick up food for my dad, and it'd be boring to go alone."

My nostrils flared the moment she said that. "Damn, here I thought I was picking up on some invisible signal."

Chico laughed...or she attempted to laugh, but it just came out was an awkward chuckle. "You should take things at face value more, but with that said. I did want to talk to you about something specifically."

Both me and Chico's gaze met. It seemed my gesture prompted her to start talking. "What does Fairy Tail mean to you?"

The question wasn't just random, but strangely heavy. "What brought this on?" I didn't mind answering, but it just seemed odd for Chico to want to know such a thing.

"Hmm, I want to see if your answer is similar to mine."

Was Chico trying to justify her feelings to herself? Regardless, I had a pretty simple answer for her.

"It's a place where...I can see a bit more of the world if that makes sense." Upon putting my thoughts into words, it made me realize just how pretentious it sounded.

Chico's eyes narrowed while she brushed her hair to the side. "You sound like a bad poet."

My fangs went into my bottom lip. "What I mean by that is there are so many different personalities and outlooks at Fairy Tail, I feel like I get a better understanding of the world from being there."

Even when I attempted to dress it up, it still sounded sort of stupid.

"Ah, I guess that was a bad question to ask in the first place." Chico closed her eyes while her body swayed along with the two spirits floating around her. "A better one would be if you are planning on staying with Fairy Tail forever?"

"Of course not. I like the guild, but there are things that I want to do...you know?" Once again, I could have picked my words better. "But seriously, what brought this on?"

Chico sucked in a deep breath like she was trying to swallow a tough pill. "I wanted to know because I'm thinking about leaving the guild in a year or two."

I was less shocked and more confused. From what I have seen of Natsu and the others, it seemed that the guild had a tight bond. Yet here, Chico was talking about leaving rather casually.

"Do you not like being a mage or something?"

"It's nothing like that." Chico shook her head. "I merely have my own goals I want to work towards. So I decided if the man that I like doesn't accept my feelings, I'm going to leave the guild and focus on those."

It was logical. Even though it was funny to think about, Chico was older than me. In her mind, she probably went over this multiple times.

"You're not moving out of the city or anything?" It was weird. Despite only knowing each other for maybe a few weeks, I did enjoy talking to Chico. Seeing her go would pretty much mean my one and only friend from Fairy Tail would be gone as well.

"What? Of course not. My dad lives here after all, plus I'd have to save money before I moved..."

It seemed she had planned out for a while. "If that's really what you want, I say go for it." The cheesiness of my words made me cringe, something I expected Chico to point out.

But instead, she stopped walking. At first, I thought it was because we made it to the shopping district, but then the ghost-mage turned and smiled at me.

"That's why... I like talking to you the most, Armel. I can say stuff like that and not feel pressured into doing anything."

There were still plenty of things I wanted to say to her about the subject, but the way she smiled made me realize going any further would be in poor taste. Besides, we were at the shopping center. Our priority would be to find Levy.

"Do you see Levy anywhere?" I asked, which prompted one of Chico's ghosts to float into the air. It then attempted to point in the general direction of our target.

"She's probably over there..." The smile Chico once had on her face completely vanished from sight. Replaced with her usual uninterested and bored expression.

We followed the spirit, which led us straight to Levy. In her had was a strangely shaped plotted plant. It didn't take long for her to notice both me and Chico.

"O-oh, Armel, you're here!" She seemed shocked to see me.

"Yo," I raised my hand. "Mirajane said that you'd be here. So I came since I didn't feel like waiting at the guild for you."

Levy tilted her head, her headband swaying with her. "Um, did you need something from me?"

I scratched the back of my head. "Not really, more that Mirajane insisted that I let you thank me for the previous night."

Levy's shoulder slumped, and her eyes narrowed. "Thanking you becomes a lot more awkward when you just show up like this."

Levy was utterly correct. It was like finding out your aunt or uncle had bought you something and visiting them only to get said present. Of course, in this context, the present was just two words.

"Yeah...it was sort of lame for you to come down here for that." Chico chimed in, which earned her a quick glare.

"J-just say thank you so I can leave..."

The blue-haired mage seemed even more confused. "Okay..." Levy then cleared her throat. "Thank you~." She let out a cheerful voice while she winked.

I, on the other hand, gave her a sideward glance while Chico frowned. Our gazes dug into Levy while her body shivered.

"W-what's wrong?"

I flipped some of my brown hair out of my face. "Ah, it's nothing...it just didn't sound heartfelt at all."

Chico nodded. "Yeah, you tried to sound all cute. You completely botched the delivery too."

I just realized we were giving a review of a thank you at this point though it was closer to Chico and me teasing the poor mage.

"S-sorry, let me try it again!" Levy raised both of her hands, nearly dropping the potted plant in her arms. "Thank you for last night, I mean it..."

Now that she said it like that, it made me feel a bit guilty for showing up and forcing her to say it.

"Don't worry about it. Just be more careful for now on." I waved to Levy, who did the same. With that interaction done, Chico and I left Levy to the rest of her shopping.

"I think I'll be splitting off from you here..." Chico said. "There is no need for you to go grocery shopping with me, after all."

While I didn't mind the activity, she had a point. "Yeah, I'll see you when I see you, and try not to stay out too late."

Chico mocking placed her hand on her chest. And in the same monotone tone, she always used spoke. "Ah, a vampire being worried about me...it's like a horror romance novel."

"Don't say that, out loud!" I cried out. "Just hurry up and get done shopping so that I won't worry about you for the rest of the day."

Chico nodded as both she and her ghost waved at me. With that, she vanished into the small crowd of people in the shopping area, leaving me completely alone.

Despite how awkward some of it was, it had been going rather smoothly. Of course, I knew better than to relax yet, after all. I had my worst luck once the sun fell...

**Author Note**

**Sorry for the long gap. Was deciding on what to make this chapter before settling on a more slice of life chapter. Mostly because the next few chapters are going to be rather hectic.**


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